Print: Hajjah Aminah Jar Lable Sticker

Designing Label Sticker of Jam Spread for Hajjah Aminah Brand.

Role

Graphic Designer

Industry

Food Industry

Duration

2 months

hajjah aminah jam spread 3 flavours on top of wood table

Stage 1. Recommended by Friend

This project for Hajjah Aminah Food Industries Sdn Bhd (HAFI) came through a recommendation from a friend who was working there at the time. HAFI was looking for a designer to create a label for their new product, which was to be sold in the Hong Kong market. The product was a traditional Malaysian jam spread with three flavours: Original Seri Kaya, Pandan, and their signature flavour; Durian.

Stage 2. Onboarding

During onboarding, I had a meeting directly with HAFI’s founder, Puan Lia. The first thing she showed me was a label design generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and mentioned she wanted something in that style. This became my first challenge to consult her in the right direction, explain the limitations of AI-generated designs, and propose new ideas instead.

Design Exploration and Process

Moodboards: To give her a clearer direction, I started by preparing a few moodboards, each with different concepts and visual styles.
Start to design: Once we agreed on one of the concepts, I began designing the labels. I searched for and downloaded all the necessary design elements, then started cropping and editing them in Photoshop. Once the hero images were finalized, I exported them into Adobe Illustrator to set up the print layout, add texts, and include all the required information.
Typically, I would start with just one variation (flavour) before proceeding with the others. However, based on my experience, a client like Puan Lia needs to be impressed from the very first presentation. So, presenting all three variations at once became part of the strategy.
Mocking Up and Present: Once all three label variations were ready, I mocked them up in Photoshop and brought them into Illustrator for the presentation layout. After finalizing everything, it was time to send them to Puan Lia for her review and feedback.

Stage 1. Recommended by Friend

Stage 2. Onboarding

Design Exploration and Process

Moodboards: To give her a clearer direction, I started by preparing a few moodboards, each with different concepts and visual styles.
Start to design: Once we agreed on one of the concepts, I began designing the labels. I searched for and downloaded all the necessary design elements, then started cropping and editing them in Photoshop. Once the hero images were finalized, I exported them into Adobe Illustrator to set up the print layout, add texts, and include all the required information.
Typically, I would start with just one variation (flavour) before proceeding with the others. However, based on my experience, a client like Puan Lia needs to be impressed from the very first presentation. So, presenting all three variations at once became part of the strategy.
Mocking Up and Present: Once all three label variations were ready, I mocked them up in Photoshop and brought them into Illustrator for the presentation layout. After finalizing everything, it was time to send them to Puan Lia for her review and feedback.

compilation of changes and process of the design

Stage 4. Feedback and Refinement.

For the first design, she seemed to like it, but then gave me several rounds of feedback. The first and second rounds focused mainly on improving readability, adjusting font styles, and aligning the layout to be fully centered. However, by the third round, Puan Lia returned to using AI-generated designs and provided me with a few new references. As a professional, I’ve learned that sometimes we need to put aside our own ideas and follow the client’s direction. Fighting the current only wastes time, energy, and resources for both sides.

So instead of starting from scratch, I tried to retain as much of the original layout as possible while incorporating the AI-inspired elements she wanted. Alhamdulillah, we finally reached an agreement on the new layout and design. The only thing left was to prepare and deliver all the final assets.

Stage 5. Deliverables

As part of my usual process, I organized all the files properly, named them clearly, and exported everything in the correct formats for printing. This ensures the client won’t face any issues when sending the files to production.

hajjah aminah durian spread jam floating single on top of wood table

close up view of other side of the durian label

hajjah aminah original seri kaya spread jam floating single on top of wood table

close up view of other side of the seri kaya label

hajjah aminah pandan spread jam floating single on top of wood table

close up view of other side of the panda label

lifestyle mock up of a lady holding a jar with hajjah aminah label on it

Final Say and Reflections,

I think this project was my first client where I faced head on with the challenge of so called AI. As an illustrator but also a graphic designer, the up and coming AI trend really have make me pensive in the thought of what my future will be. Not only tech bros keep on post propaganda info saying something like - graphic designer will be extinct, illustrator and artists will not be needed anymore and so many other negative connotations. Thus, making me to start hating AI.

But, technology is a thing of rapid growth and we cannot always able to resist their growth. This project really made me reflect on this matter and although I still reluctant to use AI in my design process, this project have help me matured to accept the technology as a way to help and ease the process between me and my client.

Final Say and Reflections,

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