Final Major Project-Balance4Life Balance4Life
FINAL MAJOR PROJECT CRITICAL REFLECTION 13/08/2012 Moderation
Occasionally
Final Major Project-Balance4Life Balance4Life
When I embarked upon my major project I took my time to consider carefully what would excite me most and how I could make a positive difference on a very real and topical issue; I was confident that if I could satisfy these criteria, not only would this assignment be fun and inspirational, it would empower me to create something fresh, vibrant, innovative and immediately marketable. I saw this process as a major stepping-stone from the academic into the commercial world, perhaps even a personal launch, and remained open to the valuable lessons and insights to be learned along the way. In the ‘excitement and inspiration’ theme were: branding and packaging with a vibrant, urban and impacting style. In the ‘making a difference on a very real and topical issue’ theme were health and beauty but I soon narrowed this down to health and, in particular, food. It was not long before my goal became to develop an innovative brand that appealed to customers and could make a meaningful contribution to combating obesity. Researching and Planning Once I had my concept I set out a fairly rigid time schedule, which for only the second time ever, I kept to religiously.
Final Major Project-Balance4Life Balance4Life
My research included learning about obesity, seeing how each of the major supermarket chains approached the issue and gaining a greater understanding of what represented a balanced diet. I was surprised by the facts I unearthed during my research, including one particular finding: ‘’if trends continue, it has been reported that half of UK men and women could be obese by 2030. Researchers say that there will be a drastic increase to 26 million people in 2030 from 15 million people currently being classed as obese. That is a 73% rise in obesity”. 1 As part of my research I visited three leading supermarkets, being Tesco’s, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer’s. On each occasion I took photographs (with permission) of extensive product ranges in particular their “healthy ranges” and other general merchandise to get a feel for the latest colour trends. These visits confirmed a suspicion that marketing efforts are still totally dominated by ‘footfall’, enticing customers through the door with ‘3 for 2 Offers’, when most shoppers need one item - not three, ‘Double-Points’, but in fact triple the calories! Upon further research I was also surprised to learn the country’s leading retailer Tesco’s had not agreed to adopting the food’ traffic light’ system and observed there was little ‘in-store’ to really help customers make more informed food choices. Certainly some retailers are beginning to make progress, however, I soon identified there is a real opportunity for our food retailers to differentiate themselves and pioneer new ways for ‘footfall’ in addition to their traditional methods.
1
www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012
Final Major Project-Balance4Life Balance4Life
As part of my primary research I also had discussions with nutritionist Vicky Howard, from weightresources.co.uk. This was very informative and proved to be a major influence on how my design unfolded. She impressed upon me that food should not categorised ‘unhealthy’ and anything in moderation is acceptable. This led me to think along the lines of ‘Regular, Moderate and Occasional’, to leave the consumer with the choice rather than what may appear a diktat Developing the design concept I originally I had the idea of using an acronym, for the naming of the product range to make the product stand out. My concern though was that this might be a little ‘corny’, and not reflect the quality of the product. This original acronym was TWIST, Taking Weighty Issues Seriously Today. I also considered how the consumer might respond to the wording “weighty issues,” and decided that this had rather negative connotations. Using positive language would be more aspirational to the consumer and subconsciously encourage them to purchase the products. Having excluded the initial concept of the acronym TWIST, I decided that the key theme for healthy eating was 'Balance'. I played with the theme of this and explored other synonyms.
Final Major Project-Balance4Life Balance4Life
With thoughts of keeping the image current, I decided to play around with text language abbreviations. I came up with the overall branding name of B4L - Balance 4 Life. At this time I started to do initial logo designs. I looked at using weighing scales, and using typography as a main element. This looked complex, and did not portray my idea of something simple and yet sophisticated. I then thought of different elements that fitted in with “Balance” as a theme, i.e., a waistline and tape measure. From here I started to incorporate both ideas of a tape measure and waistline, eventually coming to the silhouette outline and illusion of a tape measure wrapped around the entire body. This fitted well with the theme of simple and subtle.
From here I developed the Balance 4 Life theme to 3 categories, because this would help the consumer to select food products and achieve a balanced diet. This worked on the basis of, selecting 5 portion of B4R, 3 portions of B4M, and 1 portion of B4O daily. (Shown above) •
B4R (Balance for Regular) Can be eaten on a regular basis in order to achieve a balanced diet
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B4M (Balance for Moderation) can be eaten moderately in order to achieve a balanced diet.
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B4O (Balance for Occasionally) can be eaten only occasionally to achieve a balanced diet.
Final Major Project-Balance4Life Balance4Life
This 3-tier system I developed from the original concept of the traffic light coding system, already used. However as my research highlighted this system was rarely referred to by the consumer. It was important therefore to ensure that my new food coding really grabbed attention. With this in mind I turned my thoughts to creating a striking vibrant colour combinations, with the idea that the consumer could simply select their choice without the need to read any calorie content. In relation to my research findings the questionnaire results indicated that the majority of consumers related the following colours to the nutritional value of foods. (My original categories). Green- Healthy Blue - Medium Healthy Magenta - Unhealthy I considered these 3 colours and researched further into how different colours are perceived and what they represent to us on a subconscious level. I discovered that the colour blue is synonymous with mould, and is best avoided. The colour green, unsurprisingly, is associated with organic food and healthy options. The colour red is perceived as a warning colour, and with regard food, a healthy option, as it is associated with red meat, fruits and vegetables. I wanted to stay away from the original traffic light system of colour coding food, so I ruled out red, I also ruled out blue as mentioned above. I chose green. However with thoughts of making the visuals vibrant, I worked along the lines of lime green. From here I considered neon bights, lime, orange, and fuchsia. I originally went with this colour scheming. The printers I used were unable to replicate the exact colours, however the quality of paper was superior to other printers that could replicate accurate colour. I decided that the quality of paper was of paramount importance to reflect the quality of my design elements and the packaging’s contents. A further deciding factor was that the neon colours looked ‘cheap’ when printed. From this place I worked on making the colours more muted, which created a more pleasing overall look.
Final Major Project-Balance4Life Balance4Life
I decided to incorporate all 3 colours as a gradient for the overall logo ‘Balance 4 Life’, to unify the brand. This meant; 3 logos, 3 colours, 3 meals in one brand.
Regarding the fonts, that I selected (Champagne and Limousines, and Abadi MT Condensed extra bold), I wanted
Balance4Life
the look to be subtle, simple, and legible, which is achieved. I chose the background colour black, as it is perceived as sophisticated and high quality. It was highlighted to me that this colour combination could look quite ‘sporty’ and not relate to food. I proceeded to play with other background colours, such as whites, and greys. These proved unsatisfactory, and did not complement my logos, as they did not stand out. Another reason for choosing black was that it can be perceived as a ‘male’ colour and I had already by this stage developed what was a ‘feminine’ style logo. Thereby appealing to both sexes, and a wider demographic.
Final Major Project-Balance4Life Balance4Life
If I were to develop this concept further, I would consider wider demographics. Including pregnant mothers, elderly and children. The reason why I would consider these particular groups is to get a larger target audience in order for my product to appeal to a larger amount of people. In addition to this it would allow me to see the target audience more as individuals and their needs in order for them to gain a balance diet. The developed concept would also Allow people with specific dietary requirements to be able to enjoy the product. This is because I would not only cater for people who have no restrictions to what they eat, but also those who are vegans, coeliac and diabetic. I would also launch a relevant health campaign in order to raise awareness of balanced diet. In conclusion, creating a time schedule and my own deadlines helped me enormously. Up until recently I had been managing my design projects differently i.e. without thorough planning and timetabling. This had been the cause of much stress. Which I now understand is within my own control. Keeping a blog was another new aspect to my way of working. This helped me to keep track of my progress, reflect along the way, have all my work accessible in one place, and easily compare, old with new. I learned many things during this process. Firstly the need to tell a story within any design concept, when creating more than one element, for instance 3 posters, there is a need to portray the idea in a clear and logical way visually. I also learned that some ideas in theory do not always work in reality, for example, originally I used black gloss paper for my design, which when printed looked inferior in quality. I then re-printed in matt black paper, and the result was far superior. I also learned the importance of establishing and building rapport with suppliers. For example with the first printer I encountered, no rapport was established, which led to a miscommunication regarding file formats. With the second employee, I established rapport early on. This led to more collaboration, feedback, and support during the printing process, saving me time effort and money.
Final Major Project-Balance4Life Balance4Life
Some of my research findings were quite surprising i.e. obesity trends in the UK. What further surprised me was the responses from the questionnaire, which were quite universal. I thought there would be more variance in the responses. What was confirmed in the process of the project was that it is possible to take an original concept, (traffic light coding system), develop it and improve its effectiveness, confirming the theory, that there is no such thing as an original idea. In hindsight I would had paid particular attention to accuracy for templating. I incorrectly measured the dimensions of a carton, which was to serve as a template for liquid packaging. This meant that I had to re make the item, causing me inconvenience, more printing costs and time. My main challenge for this assignment was deciding the topic. I spent considerable time before coming up with my brief, as the scope was so broad. I spent much time looking at current magazines for inspiration. It became apparent that much of the popular media focus at present is on aesthetics, wellness, diet and health. This together with a previous idea about improving food packaging led to me choosing this direction. Overall I have thoroughly enjoyed working on this project, it has brought me learning, experience and satisfaction.
Final Major Project-Balance4Life Balance4Life
Reference List Websites www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/opad12 news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7151813.stm www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/04/obesityfacts/ www.colour-affects.co.uk/psychological-properties-of-colours www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/food-labelling.aspx
Books John Gage, (2000) Color and meaning: Art, Science and symbolism Deborah T. Sharpe, (1975) The Psychology Of colour and Design Reena Bequm, (2008) Depths of Colour Pyshology: Business Success and Personal Development
Articles Karen Le Billon guardian.co.uk, Friday 17 August 2012 13.08 BST Family Fresh color-codes healthy foods By: By Jeff Holmquist, New Richmond News, Published May 31, 2012, 01:24 PM