History of Soap

Soap Evolution/creation over time:

Soap has been around over the years in one form or the other. A site called (the soap kitchen) explains that soap that the use of soap dates back to 1000 B.C. However in those times they were not so pleasing to use as some soaps were made out of urine. From my understanding, I believe that soaps back then stank. However, through an evolution of soaps throughout time soaps were becoming developed. Although, around the 17th Century soaps still were unpleasant to use and were a bit harsh because they were made from caustic alkalies such as potash, leached from wood ashes and from carbonates from the ashes of plants or seaweed. Basically throughout all those years until the 18th Century soap was horrible. But then came a man with a solution, Nicholas Le Blanc, a Frenchman. Through him, soap until today has the same component which is sodium hydroxide. Sodium hydroxide is the base of most soaps today. After this discovery soap were continued to be developed in terms of shape and presentation. In the late 18th century, another innovation for soap was formed which was the "Transparent Soap", by Andrew Pears.

Pears

Even though it was an interesting innovation it was expensive to always buy since it would not last long as an opaque soap. Therefore opaque soaps were fonder. 

Soap Packaging Design:

Source:Pears

Source: Pears

The soap packaging back in the days for the Pear soaps were simple and had a distinctive font.

Source: pears

Even today's packaging design remains simple.

Major Project 2: initial Ideas and research

For my major project for this term, I will be creating a brand for soap and the advertisement for it.

This will include:
- 4 different designs for packaging for the 4 different types of soaps
-An advertisement poster for 2 types of soap (billboard, social media, billboard, etc.)

So far I have looked into soap brands such as Yardley, Lux and Dove. These were the main soap brands I used while growing up. I decided to create a branding and advertisement campaign for soap because of my interest in how a product's packaging can influence a customers attraction towards the product. I also chose soap instead of any other product because of how it is a necessity in life, and it dates back to years ago, so therefore I chose so I could research on the evolution of it.

Source: Yardley

Source: Lux

Source: Dove

The soap's packaging that I have shown in this blog gave me initial ideas of how soaps are branded and how the packaging is designed. The brand name of the soap is bold in every package in any type of soap package. The design on the package relates to what the soap consists of/ or the name of the soap. The packaging of the soap that stands out to me is the Lux's one because it has a lady on the package. The first thought that goes through my head when I saw this packaging design is that this soap was made only for women. But not just any type of women, women who want to smell luxurious or us luxurious soaps, because of the lady's pose and style.

With all of these thoughts about the lux design, I will be looking into why women are placed in some of the soap advertisement and packaging. I will be looking at the history of it and learn from it, with this research I will get an idea of how to create my designs.

Here is my sign off sheet: Valencia Kitainda Major Project Art, Design & Media: Ethics Form