This project, as the second of three major projects in my Advanced Graphic Design class as part of my MA in Visual Communication Design at Liberty University, is meant to be a highly conceptual and creative project. I was tasked with creating a package for something intangible, such as love, anxiety, confidence, tranquility, time, etc. For my design, I chose the concept of Honor. More specifically, I chose Honor as it is viewed by the Samurai of ancient Japan. The idea was to conceptualize a product that could be packaged and purchased for consumer use, and included designing not just a label on a bottle, but also the package itself. 

I am calling this product "Meiyo Honor Guard" or "Honor Guard" for short. The word "Meiyo" is the Romanized version of the Japanese word for "honor" and thought it would make a good name for this product. It also helps that I found it amusing that the word looks and sounds a lot like "mayo" from "mayonnaise" in English, so I can't help but feel that's what the material inside the package looks like...

  

The term "honor" can mean a wide range of things, from having an upstanding reputation to showing respect for someone who is regarded as having a higher station. In the case of this project, I am referencing the Samurai and their code of conduct known as Bushido. This was essentially a codex that the Samurai warrior class held themselves to, literally translating to "the way of the warrior." For the Samurai, living up to these virtues in their daily lives, whether on or off the battlefield, is what ultimately gave them honor. It was up to each and every one of them to maintain their honor, and was more about avoiding conduct that would bring shame upon their name and their Lords. 

  

The main idea behind this packaging design is that this would be a container for "honor" to be "applied" on a daily basis as a way to maintain one's honor, much in the same way we might use hand lotion to keep our skin from cracking. The package itself is meant to communicate the importance of maintaining one's honor on a regular basis and that one's honor must be safeguarded at all costs, else it turn stagnant and in its place shame will fester. This product, with daily application, will stave off any unwanted shame and keep the user in high regard, worthy of the respect and honor they might be due. 

  

  

   

  

  

Most of my ideas for the package design came from the concept of the Samurai and how the bottle would dispense "honor" to be applied on a daily basis. I ended up choosing the tatami mat with the sword sticking out of, as seen detailed further below.