Wednesday 30 November 2011

Stock Idea

A quick few experiments to see how my logo ideas would look against brown stock:








Logo Ideas



Fonts










Name and Logo

The main branding aspect is obviously Marks and Spencer however I need to create a name and logo for the picnic pack. Although mainly focusing on a Parisian theme, I need something which could be applied to other themes if the picnic range were to be expanded.


- Build a picnic
- M&S Picnic Service
- M&S Picnic Experience 
- Personal Picnic
- Perfect Picnic 


I like the name 'Perfect Picnic' as I think it works well with the sophisticated, up market audience of M&S. It gives the impression of the best quality which is why many people chose to shop in Marks and Spencer

Deliverables

1. Create a name and logo to brand the 'build your own picnic' concept.
2. Main outer packaging in which the picnic items would be carried and taken away in.
3. Themed menu in which the customers would pick their items from. (I will be focusing on a Parisian theme however will propose other themes such as Italian and Spanish.)
4. Packaging for the picnic items
5. Step by step guide to inform customers how the picnic pack works 
6. Signage for the store to point out where the picnic food is located
7. Advertising/promotions to let people know about the picnic service (could also be a webpage)

Concept Idea

One of the problems I have identified is the actual storage of the picnic pack in the Marks and Spencer store. Being the ultimate picnic pack it will need to include everything from food and drink to plates, cutlery and possibly some kind of picnic blanket. Many food and drink items will obviously need to be kept refrigerated, however this is completely unnecessary for other items which might be included in the pack.


Therefore my idea is a 'build your own' picnic in which customers would be able to go around the store and pick items specifically catered to them, whether is the type of food and drink or the amount they need based on the people attending the picnic.


The way I thought this could work could be some kind separate area in the store where the build your own picnic is situated in which all the items could be together
or
You could go round the store and picnic items would stand out separate with the use of branding to the packaging...labels/signage etc.


I will create some kind of instructions to the picnic to make it easy for the customers to do. Eg instruction card - 'step 1 pick your picnic size' and then information as to where they could find the picnic items in the store. 


So the picnic can cater to different audiences, I will make the picnic boxes in different sizes. So a small picnic box could be for two people, medium for four, large for six. 


To make the pricing easy I could make the price of the picnic pack per person and then they have a list of food and drink items in which they have to chose from rather than price items separately as this would also be difficult when scanning at the tills. 



I could even make this concept some kind of service where the customers pick the size of the picnic, select food and drink etc then marks and spencer staff build the picnic in which the customer can then collect it.



An idea which was mentioned in my groups presentation on monday was that M&S have just opened a new store in Paris (see here) and so I could use this as a theme to base my picnic on. I really liked this idea as one of my initial theme ideas was to give the picnic pack a French theme, so this would be a perfect reason...to celebrate the opening of the Paris store, a parisian themed picnic. This would then give the opportunity to propose a whole range of themed picnic packs such as an Italian, Spanish etc. 


Also the french theme can relate to the history of the picnic .

Initial Submission Boards

Initial submission boards for the final crit:

Webpage

Now I have my products photgraphed I have added the images to my proposed webpage which would feature on the Body Shop website:

(add mock)


Poster Ideas + Mock Ups

(add window display + shelving mock ups)

Product Photography



Gift Packaging

(test acetate/different labels)

Booklet Photographs

Monday 28 November 2011

Final Labels

I printed out my finals labels this morning. I was originally going to print the labels onto clear stock but I realised I could only do this for the bottom labels as the top labels are photographic images which contained areas of white which would not be printable. Therefore I decided all my labels would go onto matt stock so they were the same. This meant using a coloured background to match:


(add PDF)

Presentation

Saturday 26 November 2011

Mandatories

10 things which NEED to be produced:


1. Typeface
2. Logo
3. Name for the range 
4. Outer packaging for the pack
5. Inner packaging for the contents 
6. Brief states a maximum of 6 colours per packaging item
7. Eco/sustainable design
8. 
9.
10.


10 things which I WANT to produce:




10 things which I COULD produce:

Thursday 24 November 2011

Deliverables

I currently feel like I have no idea where or when this brief is ending. I think it's because this brief started as the 'oriental meal pack for two' but I have expanded this into a whole brand without really thinking about what i'm actually producing. I need to think about my deliverables, set myself a deadline and complete this brief. I am still really enjoying this one however I feel I really need to get it to and end.


So...I've created the brand Chop Chop which is a new brand of oriental foods to be sold in supermarkets. In the brand there is 3 ranges of foods: chinese, japanese and thai.


My deliverables will be:
1 main piece of packaging for each range in the brand. 
- Chinese meal for two
- Sushi to share 
- Thai meal for one


I also want to propose that my brand has a range of oriental cooking ingredients. I will again produce one thing for each range:
- Chinese - Prawn crackers
- Japanese - Teriyaki sauce
- Thai - Sticky rice


I have chosen the above products so I can produce a variety of packaging to show how my branding works across differed forms, scales, and media. 


To distribute the range I will create some kind of magazine advertisement to promote the brand and also a promotional money off voucher which could also feature in a magazine.


To put my range into context, I also want to set up the scene for one of the meals in use and photograph it. 

Range of Products in the Brand

I've decided my brand will consist of three types of oriental food. I will have Chinese, Japanese and Thai. I will be using Lorenzo's idea of colour co-ordinating my packaging depending on the type of food and also with the textured backgrounds I have been using.


Chinese - I will continue to use the bamboo sticks as the texture combined with the deep red colour.

Thai -  It is common in Thailand for banana leaves to be used as a material for packaging so this will be the texture for Thai food in my range combined with the green I have used for the sushi. I will then change the Japanese theme...


Japanese - I have done some research and found that in Japan, bamboo leaves/sheath are a common material for packaging. For the sushi packaging I have designed so far, I have used a green bamboo leaf however I will be changing this to a bamboo sheath (the texture which is more a neutral brown colour (see here) this is so I can use the green leaf for the Thai foods.


Colours and Textures:

Chinese:


Thai:


Japanese:


10 Questions

1) Target Audience?
- who are they
- what age are they
- who already shops in M&S


2) What will the product be in competition with?
- Other supermarkets/companies
- Other products sold in M&S


3) What needs to be included to make it the 'ultimate picnic'?


4) Where/when/who goes on picnics?


5) Who would be interested in buying this product?


6) What kind of branding do M&S already use within their food products?


7) What themes could I use to make the product useful for M&S customers?


8) How will the product be sold in the store? 
- Consider contents/storage/price/size


9)


10)

YCN - Marks & Spencer

Why am I doing this brief?


1. I have an interest in packaging design.
- The more packaging I produce, the more experience and knowledge I will gain in designing packaging more effectively
- It will mean more work for my portfolio in the area of design I would like to work in


2. Interested in subject area of food.
-  Will make the brief more enjoyable which should hopefully help me to resolve it better
- It is the industry I would like to produce packaging for in the future


3. This brief will involve branding for a higher end food store - would like to work in this area in the future.
- I enjoy the branding aspect which comes with this brief
- It will help me learn and understand target audiences and producing things for specific people
- I would like to gain more experience in branding


4. It is a competition brief which allows a good opportunity to get myself and my work recognised.
- This could lead onto better job opportunities 


5. Would like to go into packaging design after the course so this brief will give me more experience.
- If I have a range of packaging projects in my portfolio, it will show my passion and ability when applying for a job


6. The brief is quite open in terms of the theme which will allow me to make it more personal and something I can enjoy.
- Hopefully this will lead to better resolutions as I will enjoy doing it.
- Can think up more options ideas which can then be developed on


7. Marks and Spencer is a well known brand so allows the brief to feel more realistic and professional.



8. Competition brief means there is more pressure which will hopefully push me into producing a higher standard of work.
- The pressure to be better than others entering will make me try harder with this brief

Problems Identified

- I figured that there isn't really one major problem I can identify in this brief M&S have already decided on the idea for the new product (the picnic pack) and simply need people to expand on this idea and create it.
I feel M&S have made the decision this would be a practical and clever idea. People will buy into the concept for the convenience and easiness. My problem is to figure out exactly what the concept of the picnic pack will be.


- The concept/theme that I decide on needs to attract existing customers who shop in M&S and also attract new ones. I need to produce something that will get people interested and wanting to go on picnics. 


- I need to give people a reason to buy it. People may already be shopping in M&S for a picnic so I need to give them a reason why buying the pack is better than buying individual items.


- The brief doesn't specify a target audience it says we need to make the decision on this ourselves, however M&S is a well known store so must already have some kind of specific audience. The brief states that the customer base is simply just 'wide' so I want to find out who their existing customers are to then narrow this down to something more specific to focus my brief for.


- Another problem is that this product isn't ideal for all year round. People tend to go for picnics in warm summer months...how could I solve this issue.


- How will it be stored in the shop. Need to consider the contents as some items will need to be refrigerated however as it's the 'ultimate picnic pack' it will include things like plates and cutlery which is unnecessary to be in a fridge. 

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Banner Ideas

Quick ideas for how in store banners and posters could work:



New Ketchup Labels

When printed the text looked too small and wasn't very readable against the dark red of the ketchup inside the bottle so i've created a few more layouts for this with the text at a larger size:



Tuesday 22 November 2011

Body Shop Brochure

I'm going to create a brochure for the new Winter Collection range of products. Whilst developing my initial ideas of the packaging I though it was a shame to discard the ideas of using body parts for each product as I really liked this idea (see here) however I couldn't find enough stock images to have a different one on each product.


However I've decided these images would work brilliantly in the brochure as I could have a different image on each page but with a few of the products.















(These images have been edited - see here for originals)

To Do

Where I'm currently at and what I still need to do:


1. Oriental Brief:
- The meal pack for two is a case of getting it printed now.
- I need to do further development on the sushi packaging.
- Expand my range into more proposed products.
- Explore Lorenzo's idea of colour co-ordinating my products somehow
- Get everything photographed
- Create some kind of promotional posters/advertisement for the range


2. Body Shop Brief:
I did want this finished quite some time ago but thats just not happened!
- All my product labels are finished and ready to print which I will be doing this week
- Still awaiting my stock for the outer packaging to come through the post as royal mail have messed up.
- I've come up with a solution for the inside in terms of how the products sit in the box. Rather than using card for the tray I originally created I will using foam instead. This way my products will sit tightly inside the box. My mother is getting me the foam from her work and is bringing it for me this sunday.
- Need to create the brochure which I'm currently in the process of.


3. Asda Brief:
- Labels are being printed tomorrow
- Screen print onto tote bags
- Create promotional posters/banners for the range


4. YCN M&S Brief:
- Currently only have initial ideas and a small amount on context blog
- Going to continue with the above briefs and get this one in full swing in Freds session on Thursday morning.

Mock Up To Scale

I worked out the size of my net based on it fitting around the inside packaging (the inside packaging has been made to a similar size of typical take away meal boxes). The outer packaging net will be printed onto A1 which at first I thought seemed really big but i've printed out a mock up today (I did this on 4 A3s and placed them together) and the sizing seems pretty good to me. All my font sizes look fine now they have been scaled up so I will not need to make any changes to it.


(add photos)


The only thing which I felt wasn't working were the little tabs at the top that keep it closed. They didn't seem to be fitting together right and were making the whole thing slightly lob sided. I'm not sure if this is due to the thin stock it is currently printed on however I've decided I will create a more simplistic locking tab to hold it together...something like this:


(add images)


I think this will also make the fastening slightly easier and will generally make the function of the packaging better.

Labels Ready For Print

We are printing our labels tomorrow afternoon. The documents are all set up and ready. All labels which are going on glass/clear/plastic packaging will be printed onto clear labels:


Labels with the image background will be printed onto matt labels. Once these have been printed we will need to photograph our final products. 

Other things to finish are:
- Deciding on a design for the tote bag and getting this printed.
- Creating promotional material, posters, banners.
- Putting everything into context so mocking up images of our products on shelves, banners featuring in the store etc.
- Creating separate submission boards.

I think after printing, this brief will need one more day maximum.

Monday 21 November 2011

Final Labels PDF

(add pdf of all final labels)

Final Labels

Here are the final labels for my 5 products:



The labels on white will be printed onto clear labels. These are the products that already appear in see through packaging so the product will be visible through the label. Products which are contained in tin, card etc which cannot be in see through packaging will be  labels with a printed image of the contents to give the appearance that you can see the contents through the packaging. These products will be the tuna flakes (shown above), beans and bran flakes which Ellis is producing the packaging for.

The idea behind this is that the products in Asdas Necessities range are stripped down to bare minimum showing that there is nothing to be hidden in these lower price products.

Final Bag Design


Tote Bag Ideas



I've ordered a few plain tote bags like the ones above so we can screen print onto them.