WW5: Ah, Motherland!

Hello! so I have been playing a bit with Google’s Sketch Up. To all of your advice that Playing was the right way to go about it. I feel this is taking shape and I no longer want to bury myself in ice. 

I am experimenting with the content of each package at the same time that I am refining my 3D modeling skills.

The Happy Meal’s content is all about the Canal’s history: From the discovery of the Pacific Sea, the “Culebra Cut” which is the cut that slips the continent its building to the Torrijos-Carter Treaty  that enabled Panama to be sovereign over the Panama Canal Zone after 70+ of exclusive US ruling.

Rough study

Here I am playing with colorplaying with content

Playing with content

These boards pitch to three products that narrate different facets of the Panamanian Soul:

1. Nationalistic Pride showed as a visual narrative of the history of the Panama Canal within McDonald’s Happy Meal.
2. Grotesque Exuberance demonstrate through an all while Diablo Rojo (public transportation buses) plus makers, stickers, and guide to paint.
3. Ritualistic Happiness.  Carnaval has many components: public showering of crowds during the hot days, parades and dances at night in the country’s small towns. This yearly ritual that last five days change panamanians and enhance their lives. Agua de Carnaval mixes unique components that bring carnavalistic happiness to anyone who drinks it.     

For better view open the image on a new window. You can get more details that way.

Now I am up to gathering the content for each design (especially for the McDonald one). For the final presentation I will be showing process of the incorporation of content within the design.

This drop of Agua de Carnaval (Carvinal Water) symbolizes the panamanian tradition and spirit. A combination of urine, sweet water (from a near by river), mud, river stones and confetti, will make the drinker endlessly happy, horny, and dance for hours at the time. This water will make you drink more water.

Bottle Study. The bottle represents a drop of Carnival Water. At the bottom of the bottle there is a hardened crust containing the magical ingredients. The bottle is meant to be refilled to make base us of the hardened crust.

Back of the bottle showing ingredients

Mood for display (inspiration from Radiohead and Gigant Grocery Chain)

The final installation will be print on canvas. Ideally I tould have had a huge ligh box to illustrate Agua de Carnaval on your local grocery.

hey Giana.

saw these candies and thought the packaging was fun.
I will bring them on Sunday as a treat

This is some amazing work that I came across today.

Yesterday we were discussing Giana’s project & water packaging..I thought this was cynical..little to the extreme..Talking about medication and all but hilarious!

Water is the hope of Panama. The isthmus’s curves are hugged by the Atlantic and the Pacific waters. This element is crucial to the Panamanian soul and economic well being. It symbolizes process, economic advancement, cleansing but most importantly happiness.

Happiness is spread, shared and commonly enjoyed during the days of Carnaval through la “Mojadera”.  During the daytime during carnaval, thousands of panamanians are showered with water stored.

Crowds asking for Water!!

La Murga (The band)

Wet panamanians

Under the umbrella of the project Panama RTE, for the GAIA’s AhMotheland residency I will explore the brand identity and packaging for two products encapsulating happiness: “Crrnaval” Energy Drink and “Agua de Carnaval” bottled water.

For the final show a collage of renderings, product description and placement will be shared with the public.

Panama R.T.E. speaks to the “Immigrant Experience” because through it I am looking for ways of cultural survival through the use of merchandise and propaganda. I am looking for ways in which I can avoid the loss of what I conceptually value and unspokenly brings happiness to my soul.

The drive for this project is to fill the void that my panamanian soul experiences due to the lack of connections like most immigrants experience. This project aims to find a cultural connection with others regarless of their place of origin. Convert others to Panamanians through propaganda, toy design and/or events, so we can all be the same… in a way.

The Panamanian soul has many facets due to his history, culture and idiosyncrasy. During the 5 weeks of the AhMotherland! residency I will explore the packaging for “Happiness” using as an inspiration the celebration of “El Carnaval”.