Osmo Reading Adventure Packaging
Concept Development | Art Direction | Illustration | Packaging Design & Systems
Osmo launched the Reading Adventure series in late 2022 and featured a special partnership with LeVar Burton. Reading Adventure was unique in that it was structured to be a subscription service, and a number of progressive reading levels. There are a number of entry points, depending on the child’s reading level, and also featured special versions of these entry points that included exclusive books written and voiced by LeVar Burton.
This presented a challenge for packaging design, to create a system and visually distinguish each of the four variants. All while still providing context introducing the Osmo system and educating the consumer of Osmo’s new reading program.
Character Sketch and Final Direction
I worked with one of our artists to develop a custom pose to feature the new character, Oliver, on the front of the product packaging. I sketched out Oliver cupping his ear, to illustrate that the game uses speech recognition technology to listen to the child as they read.
Walmart Pitch Concept
Here are some of my designs for the Reading Adventure product. The first is a preliminary design concept that I created for a pitch to sell the product line on Walmart retail shelves. And because the product was subscription based, this gave us an opportunity to have a brand moment on the corrugate shipping boxes. I worked with artists to later compose the final retail packaging, and to help illustrate the artwork on the shipper boxes.
Packaging layout process
The Reading Adventure packaging required some research and exploration to optimize the spacing for new information being added to this product line, while still maintaining our existing packaging systems. There were several factors to consider while designing the layout:
Differentiation between the regular retail boxes versus the celebrity retail box (featuring LeVar Burton).
Distinction between two Starter Kit levels
A blurb promoting the speech recognition technology (which is one of the main differentiators for this product)
Introduction of the values and reading skills learned
See these documents for the project overview and weekly reviews:
Corrugate Shipper Boxes
With Reading Adventure being a subscription program, that provided a branding opportunity for the monthly shipper boxes. I worked with the artists to come up with a layout for each variant using a single Pantone color on corrugate.
iPad Base + Books
Amazon Fire Base + Books
Books Only