Design of the Main Pattern:

Design goals:
I would like to show a kind of Mid-Autumn moon, heaven and earth together to celebrate the atmosphere of the festival through various elements, colours, fonts, to express a kind of idea that Mid-Autumn moon cake box is not just a gift box.

Known Information of Design (possible)

1. The size of the mooncakes box: 332 x 170 x 61 mm

2. The mode of packaging: 

 3. Elements of the main pattern on the top:

• butterfly
• moon
• the goddess in the moon
• rabbit
• lantern
• hill 
• water
• house
• the crowd
• other Chinese & natural symbols

Software:
I use Adobe Illustrator CS6 to draw the main pattern because the software is more suitable and convenient to draw the digital pattern.
In the project, I use various tools of this software, such as pens, brushes, rectangles, ellipses, lines and so on.

The main pattern:

1.The layout of the main pattern on the top:

The original idea: the axial symmetry layout

the original idea

Fonts: The font of the Chinese & English name becomes circular. The Chinese ones are bigger, the English ones are much smaller. Also, time and logo are together and use a square font like seals.

I found that it is boring and the size of some elements is too big.

The second idea: the eccentric composition.

the second idea

Analysis chart

line element

I combined the line element with the circle element to form a basic composition. 

This is a scene of admiring the moon in the main pattern. The spaceline is from heaven to earth.

2. Digital Elements of  the main pattern

After drawing on the laptop and use some pattern I looked at before, I found that drawing the yard and the crowd is difficult to show a festival scene. 
Next, I decided to change other elements and searched for some pictures with the paper-cut style.
Then, replaced the courtyard with pavilions and the crowds with lanterns. 
Finally, I placed some lanterns and butterflies on the winding road that connects the mountains at the bottom with the clouds in the sky, trying to create a lively festival atmosphere.

AI operation interface screenshot

1) the goddess in the moon& rabbit& lantern:  

draw network material as lines in AI

2) butterfly: 

draw the hand-drawn material in AI

3)pavilion:

simplify the paper-cut pavilion pictures on the Internet and draw them with AI

4)cloud

According to a symbol of the heart of the auspicious clouds in the AI drawing, and then deformation

3. Colour

I try to use silver and mazarine that is the symbol of the night, and then I found that it is not suitable to show the cool colour in the festival box because the cool colour may make people feel loneliness. 

Thus, I choose light yellow, deep yellow and mazarine, and these colours can express a kind of Mid-Autumn moon night.

AI operation interface screenshot

4. Fonts

Style: Handwritten Chinese characters + typewritten English characters,

Handwritten Chinese that are caught in circles but left out indicate the filling characteristics of Lava Custard Mooncake. And the typewritten English characters can generate an effect of line.

the filling of MX mooncakes

There are four groups of fonts and I choose the last one.

possible fonts

final fonts

5. Final pattern

AI operation interface screenshot

The picture shows a festival scene that people is admiring moon when the goddess in the moon is admiring earth on the Mid-Autumn festival. The pavilion and the lantern is the symbol of the earth, and the cloud, the moon and the goddess represent heaven.

References:

51miz. (n.d.) Painted Mid-Autumn festival esthetic goddess flying on the moon silhouette. [Online]. Available from:https://www.51miz.com/sucai/1092503.html [Accessed: 09/04/2020]

Ibaotu. (n.d.)Hand-painted red pavilion silhouette elements. [Online]. Available from:https://ibaotu.com/sucai/18327900.html?kwd=%E7%88%B1%E5%9B%BD%E5%85%83%E7%B4%Al [Accessed: 09/04/2020]

HKMXmooncakes. (n.d.) [Online]. Available from:https://www.hkmxproducts.sg/ [Accessed: 09/04/2020]

HKMXmooncakes. (n.d.) [Online]. Available from:http://www.hkmxmooncakes.com/overseas/en/product/series2/index.html [Accessed: 09/04/2020]