Let’s start out with my Fall wax stash. All together I have 47 clamshells ready to be melted. Granted 16 of those wax melts are Scenty’s Apple S’mores but that is due to them discontinuing the fragrance. Aside from those, would you believe I only had about 12 other Autumnal wax melts prior to this August? When Wal-Mart releases their new collections I tend to go a little crazy.

Moving on to the entirety of my Bath & Body Works collection, I only have 8 mini candles tucked away. I’ll probably try to burn these versions of Pumpkin Pie before moving on to my 3-wicks since it did not return this year. On the other hand I’ll probably never burn Spiced Pumpkin Cider from 2013. I really wish BBW still carried these miniature guys alongside all their scents rather than just the Halloween line.

Next up, I have 9 tester candles from Bath & Body Works. These are the medium jars that you sniff when deciding on which wallflowers to pick up. You normally can’t purchase these until SAS and even then it’s hit or miss. If you are able to get your hands on these, sometimes they’ll throw even better than a 3-wick while other times they’re practically unscented. I typically just use these to amp up whatever else I’m burning.

Now, what you’ve all been waiting for – the entirety of my fall large jar collection! All together I (only) have 20, 3-wick candles from Bath & Body Works. Out of these 20 candles, there are only 9 individual fragrances. It comes down to me knowing exactly what I like, being a seasonal burner, and certain candles bringing me nostalgia. Not only that, but several of these candles seem to return almost every year so I don’t necessarily hoard them. Except Cider Lane, obviously. Traditionally I burn apple fragrances in September, pumpkin in October, and November tends to be a transitional month.

Judging by my entire candle & wax collection, it’s pretty obvious Autumn is my favorite time of the year. I know exactly what I want to burn at every point in the season and look forward to it the rest of the year. While some might see this as excessive, I see this as a practical hobby. It’s also pretty great when someone enters my home and the first thing they say to me is that “it smells so good in here!” Happy fall everyone and enjoy it while it lasts!

How many fall candles do you have? Share in the comments!

The post Fall 2017 Candle & Wax Collection appeared first on Melting With Michelle.

The 2017 Summer Stories candle collection popped up in test stores months ago but the candles are only appearing nationwide very recently. Like everyone else, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the “Times New Roman” labels but they didn’t repulse me by any means. While I’m extremely critical of design aspects, I also try to keep in mind that behind every label is careful art direction that we as consumers may not fully understand. However, with the information I am aware of regarding this collection, I decided to redesign the labels to show Bath & Body Works improvements that could’ve been made.

We can see that the original collection had a large graphic as the focal point that didn’t always directly correlate with the actual scent. On top of that is a random right-aligned opaque box containing the copy. The copy includes one name for the candle with incorrect punctuation, a secondary name for the candle, and a short storyline that offers no description of the fragrance. All left-aligned in a basic serif font.

I decided the first step in my redesign would be to improve upon Bath & Body Works original design but keep some elements consistent. The main issue I noticed in the label was the two alignments competing with each other. Rather than keep left-aligned text within a right-aligned box, I moved the box entirely to the left and slightly adjusted the dimensions. To keep the “story” theme I continued to use a serif font but chose one with more curvatures. Finally, I eliminated one of the candle names because newspapers and magazines typically only have one.

Next I wondered what I would’ve concepted if an art director gave me the constraints of a story theme for this candle collection. My mind immediately went to a magazine aesthetic rather than newspaper because the target audience is more likely to read that. Modern magazines typically have sans serif fonts with big bold typography which is what I tried to emulate. Here I’ve also eliminated any unnecessary copy to let the image tell the story itself. I would think the consumers would want to come up with their own story or memory when they smell the candle rather than read something forced on the packaging.

As you can see above, both of these designs can be easily adapted throughout the entire collection by a simple text update and switch of a picture. Maybe Bath & Body Works had a miscommunication regarding the art direction and had to quickly meet a deadline. Maybe it was truly poor direction or just a stressed designer. Whatever the reason, I’m willing to give the company the benefit of the doubt and hope they improve for Fall test candles. Also, if you’re looking for a new freelance designer Bath & Body Works, I’m most certainly interested in the job!

What are your most and least favorite candle labels of all time? Share in the comments!

The post Label Redesign – BBW 2017 Summer Stories Collection appeared first on Melting With Michelle.