Monday, November 17, 2008

Being Human


“Live life fully while you're here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up! You're going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes: find the cause of your problem and eliminate it. Don't try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human.” ~ Anthony Robbins

It feels like I've finally reached a little plateau with the creation of my perfume packaging. Whew, what a long, winding, dynamic path this has been. I know the plateau is only a little respite from this dynamic realm. In either case, it feels good to take a breather and look back on the process...without the pitfalls along the path.

When I made the decision to put my perfumes on the market I began first with a color and design palette. From there I had a logo designed. During that process it occurred to me that checking into trademark of my company name would be a good idea, that's when Illuminated Perfume became Roxana Illuminated Perfume. Next I found a graphic designer and web coder to create the website. The website creation took what seemed like a millennium...and is to my distaste an ongoing process.

During a plane flight I had an idea to assign a color from the palette to each fragrance. At first I wasn't sure how I would utilize that idea, but, I liked the concept. I had my handy dandy award winning in-house artist create the illuminations for each fragrance.

The next item was the bottle. Unfortunately my bottle supplier did not have small quantities of my ideal, so I settled for the more generic Chanel-like bottle, for now. My mother use to create these lovely little gemstone pouches for my daughter and her girlfriends. Thus, I asked my mother to create a similar type pouch for my bottles. This is where the color palette came in handy. The collaboration of the pouch design with my mom has been terrific. I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to implement Greg's visual artwork and my mothers beautiful handwork into the creation of the brand.

With perfumes, logo, website, illustrations and pouches in tow I thought I was set. Until someone mentioned the box didn't fit the quality of the perfumes. Thus, for the last month we've been perfecting the box which includes a sticker on the top and a handmade silk pillow in the interior. Once again, I thought I was done. No, what about some enclosed information for the buyer of the perfume. Okay, so the latest, hot off the press, is a small, accordion folded paper with some information and imagery.

Thus, today I stand on this little plateau, looking over all the work that has gone into this first phase and I feel like I can take a breath. The local fires have subsided a bit, thus the deep inhale doesn't include too much of a smoke note.

Roxana Illuminated Perfume™

Images: Photo top and bottom of the new boxes with stickers, pouches and accordion mini brochure.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Poof!


“I began wearing hats as a young lawyer
because it helped me to establish my professional identity.
Before that, whenever I was at a meeting,
someone would ask me to get coffee...”

~ Bella Abzug

Well, it looks like today I will be doning the wizard hat. My webmistress has fallen off the radar and I will be venturing into uncharted territory....augmenting the website. Between the ex-husband and the husband to be, it looks like I've got a nice sized life preserver just in case I fall over the edge.

Thus {sighing} perfumes, accords and other important preparations for the Sunday festivities will be put on hold while I boldly go where I haven't gone before.

Onward!

I myself have 12 hats, and each one represents a different personality.
Why just be yourself?
~ Margaret Atwood


Roxana Illuminated Perfume™
Image: Old engraving cleaned up and placed on parchment, ©Roxana Villa.

Monday, November 10, 2008

God is in the details


“God is in the details.”
~ Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

There are so many minute particles to be contemplated and fine tuned when one has their own business. It is truly a staggering labor of love. The latest task on our desk is the enrichments of the little boxes which hold our solid and liquid perfumes. We have decided to enhance the little boxes with a lining and little pillows. The task involves many detailed steps to get to the end product.

“The true secret of happiness
lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.”
~ William Morris

I am having considerable help by my uber talented mum, who makes the lovely crocheted bags for our perfumes. She has also been helping out with the inside details of the boxes.



“Every man is tasked to make his life, even in its details,
worthy of the contemplation of his most elevated and critical hour”
~ Henry David Thoreau

It's in all these fine details that I see how my history in the arts, specifically the book arts, begins to serve well. Having highly skilled, creative individuals adding their skill set is also an enormous asset.

Thus, I am off to yoga this morning in gratitude for all the little elves who are assisting in creating more beauty to the world.

“Every man's life ends the same way.
It is only the details of how he lived
and how he died that distinguish one man from another.”
~ Ernest Hemingway