Snap! Crackle! Pop!

BRIEF

To design the visual identity, packaging and direct a thirty second TV commercial for a new brand of breakfast cereal.

TUESDAY 7TH APRIL 2009

To begin my research I visitied the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising. The majority of cereal packaging on display was clearly aimed at children. As this was a popular target audience, which already saturates the market I decided to find an alternative category to design my product for.

WEDNESDAY 8TH APRIL 2009

I found a few cereal boxes at home. I noticed how much unneccesary information was printed on them, how many people actually bother to read all of the text on the box? I’d like to reduce my packaging right down to just the essentials. An organic theme would go well with this idea.

SUNDAY 12TH APRIL 2009

All those easter eggs got me thinking about my packaging! This Smarties egg box had the least amount of packaging on it out of Harvey’s collection. After having to dispose of a huge amount of excess packaging I decided to continue with my idea of an organic cereal, as I could keep the packaging to a minimum, with a simple environmentally friendly design. Like the Smarties box I could make the box from recycled materials.

I looked into existing organic products on the market, and researched into inventive ways of packaging items. The cardboard tube packaging below is a great idea, as the packaging would be very strong and easily transported. The plastic lid on top would be great for keeping the contents fresh, which conventional boxes sometimes fail to do. I like the brown paper/cardboard material used on the other two images, it gives it more of an organic, environmentally friendly feel. The simplistic design of these two is the look I am aiming for, like these examples graphics and text will be kept to a minimum on my box.

I researched into Japanese packaging designs which used techniques such as origami. I’d like to create a net for my box which doesn’t need to glued together, it would make my design even more environmentally friendly. I looked at different ways that I could make the box lock without using glue. The existing designs below gave me the idea of shaping my box to suit the cereal.

MONDAY 13TH APRIL 2009

I went to a few supermarkets to do some market research. I think that the idea of a window which enables the customer to see the contents is far better than a printed image of the cereal in a bowl. That way you get to see the quality of the product, not an image touched up in Photoshop. It also reduces the amount of ink being used. A feature could be made of the window, transforming it into a shape. Dorset cereals have cut windows out in the shape of their logo.

This sandwich box completely contradicts itself. Whilst it claims to be less damaging to the environment by using plant extracts for the plastic window and the card being made from recycled and sustainable resources, I couldn’t believe how much pointless information was printed on there. They had even printed on the base of the box! (third image)

TUESDAY 14TH APRIL 2009

I began working on my cereal box design. I decided to begin with the form of the box itself, I would like to use an unconventional net.

Suprisingly I found the net for a brown paper bag hard to find!I found one at this address

http://brownpaperbagproject.blogspot.com/2007/06/brown-paper-bag-with-box-net.html

I adapted the paper bag net by adding an semi circular flap at the top on one side and cutting the other half of a circle out of the back This could be an interesting design feature, which could also double up as a handle.

I got this Tiger box a while ago. The sides fold into the box, and remain in place without any glue. This idea is in keeping with my idea of my design having a reduced impact on the environment by using greener products to make the box wherever possible.  I adapted this design into a shape more suited to a cereal box, as the Tiger version was short and square.

WEDNESDAY 15TH APRIL 2009

I thought about names for my cereal company. I decided not to use any gimmicks, as I wanted the naturalness of the product to speak for itself.  I drew out ideas for logo designs, and then developed my favourites in Illustrator. The orange is my favourite, as the geometric shapes give it a modern, simple feel.

THURSDAY 16TH APRIL 2009

A few initial ideas for the front of the box.

MONDAY 20TH APRIL 2009

I came up with a few designs for the back. I wanted to keep it simple without any unnecessary information. I found a barcode font and other logos on the internet that I can use on my box to make it more authentic.

I made a prototype using the type of card that I am going to use for my final design. I will have to add flaps to the side tabs to keep the box closed. If the product was to be sold on the market, the orange design which also doubles up as a handle would be packed flat for easier transportation, and then pressed out before putting out on the shelves. I changed the name to Pure, although am not certain that this will be the final name for it yet. The definition suits the product perfectly  -

Wholesome, unadulterated, untainted, uncontaminated, unpolluted, germ-free, unmixed, real, clear, true, simple, natural, honest, perfect, genuine, authentic, flawless. Free from impurities, dirt, pollution, or foreign elements – containing nothing inappropriate or extraneous. Innocent or morally good. Having no faults; sinless.

FRIDAY 24TH APRIL 2009

I thought about the concept for the TV commercial. I’d like to create a simple ad which highlights the products naturalness, perhaps showing food in an unappealing modified state, with a voiceover saying that no ingredients like these are used in making the cereal. I looked at Innocent, Jordans, and Dorset Cereals TV adverts to get some inspiration for my own ad.

Simple adverts have the same approach as Innocent, they create an ad which focuses purely on the product, without a lot of distracting extras.

In this 2007 advert, Simple has gone back to 1980’s approach, reusing the mechanical arm spraying the object to show the ageing process.

Dove also has a similar approach, I like the idea of stripping everything back to it’s natural state.

SATURDAY 2ND MAY 2009

I went to Howies and Muji to have a look at their packaging. Howies aim is to make people think as well as buy. Their catalogue is sent out without the use of an envelope, and can be sent back to them or recycled once it is finished with. The same applies to their clothing, old clothes can be returned so that they can be recycled into new ones.  I particulary like their slogan in the back of the catalogue – all rights reserved, all wrongs reversed.

I found this cereal box in Tesco. They have printed an effect of what  is supposed to look like brown paper onto the box. If they want to promote it as a natural product why not use true ethical materials instead of just imitating! Clearly marketed for those buying into the current ‘green’ trend!

TUESDAY 5TH MAY 2009

I experimented with injecting different fruits for my cereal advert. This is to show all the additives and chemicals that exist in some foods we buy. I thought about reversing the footage after I have filmed it. If I continue with the idea I will will have to find a way of attaching them to the surface so that they don’t move during filming. As these were just experiments I didn’t worry about getting the correct lighting, so the quality isn’t great.

Pear injected with coloured ink

Orange injected with green ink

Sliced orange injected with coloured ink

sliced orange injected with coloured ink

Peach injected with coloured ink

Peach injected with water

Peach injected with sodium chloride

Peach injected with bleach

Clementine injected with ink

Clementine injected with sodium chloride

Sliced clementine injected with sodium chloride

WEDNESDAY 7TH MAY 2009

Having problems finding a printer. Ideally I would like my box to agree with design ethics. David mann suggested a printers in Essex which I will try tomorrow. I Went to see Toby in the Knowledge Dock about the possibility of laser cutting my design. He suggested that as it is not too intricate to use a scalpel, but i’m going back over the summer to get tutorials on how to use the laser cutters, which will be useful for future projects.

FRIDAY 8TH MAY 2009

After the crit I decided that my idea for the advert was was too clinical, it could seem as if I was extracting something out of the food, which goes against the brands ethics. I thought that I could maybe do an animation, as the problem I have with filming is that I might complicate things too much.I want to keep the ad as simple as possible.

SATURDAY 9TH MAY

I’m having problems getting hold of recycled card for my net, as it seems that I will now have to make the box myself. I will transfer the design onto my net by using decal dry transfers, which you print off and then rub on.  I will try shops for their unwanted packaging boxes, to see if i can find any card.If not I will have to cover with brown paper, which is something that I don’t really want to do, as there are so many creasefolds on the constructed net it may make it harder to fold. I thought about how the cereal would be contained within the box. Originally I had wanted to have the cereal visible in a bag inside the box which if mass produced would be made from plant extract (like the plastic on the M&S sandwich box I looked at previously). I decided to adapt my net slightly, so that the cereal would be contained within the box. As the sides fold in I thought it would be a waste to not highlight this feature with a pourable mechanism. The cereal now comes out the box from the side of the box base. It has also made the box a lot stronger.

MONDAY 11TH MAY 2009

I began my new idea for my cereal box advert. I scanned a piece of brown paper for the background, this ties in with the brown card that I will be using for my cereal box, and gives it more of a natural organic feel.

My transfers finally arrived. As I have not been able to find any A1 sized card I bought some strong brown paper which I applied to the card before constructing my net.

I had problems with the transfers, first with printing onto the sheets through my printer, then getting the transfers onto the box. I have had to order some more, this time with a white backing so that they will show up more. I don’t think that they will arrive in time, so for now I have printed off the design onto paper and stuck it onto my box.

Once I receive the new dry rub off decals I will make another version of my box and post on here.

WEDNESDAY 13TH MAY 2009

I finished my cereal box advert. It took me nearly all day to learn how to rotate the tractor wheel! I wanted to create my own music for the advert, and wanted something natural, so I went to the woods and recorded the birds singing. There was a lot of buzzing on the recording, which I couldn’t get rid of completely, so I layered the recording up over some music I created in Logic and edited it to thirty seconds.

I need to adjust the settings when I render the film in After Effects, as it is a bit squished.

TUESDAY 2ND JUNE 2009

Visited Innocent headquarters with Chi. It was nice to see a company truly sticking to their ethics without compromising in any way and creating the best smoothies in the process! It was interesting that Howies,  a company I previously looked at for inspiration, have recently worked with Innocent on T-shirt designs. The best part (apart from the freebies!) was getting to see some examples of newly designed packaging as flat nets printed off on a standard printer. Really highlighted the fact that professional print processes really help to enhance great design further.