2021 Journal

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California Polytechnic State University Technical Association of the Graphic Arts Volume 38


Copyright © 2021 California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Technical Association of the Graphic Arts Student Chapter Published in the United States of America By Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo TAGA Student Chapter 1 Grand Avenue San Luis Obispo, CA 93407-0381 USA


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Table of Contents Introduction President’s Letter

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Journal Roadmap

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Articles How to Solve the Future of the Wine Industry: An Analysis of the

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Wine Industry’s Packaging Options when Targeting the Millennial and Gen-Z Demographics Pandemic vs Lower Income Neighborhoods in San Francisco

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Wine Packaging: The Effects of Product Design and Packaging

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on Consumer Response Tails Pet Boutique: Phoenix Challenge

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The Link Between Film and Society

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Credits Meet the Team

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Acknowledgments

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Colophon

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President’s Letter Dear Reader, It is my honor to present to you the 2021 Student Electronic Research Journal competition entry of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo’s TAGA chapter. This journal is the culmination of months of teamwork by our dedicated team to showcase student-written research, engaging design, and modern production technologies. This year our theme is California Calling. In a time of fear and uncertainty over this past year, we looked to the landscape of California for grounding. The ebb and flow of California’s hills, tides, and clouds remind us that change is perpetual. In order to have renewed growth, a period of decline is inevitable. While the team was scattered across the West Coast during production, we all call California home in one way or another, which is why we decided to pay homage to the state. Our theme name is also a nod to our frequent Zoom calls. Cal Poly is proud to uphold its “Learn by Doing” motto in its first solely electronic journal. It would be a missed opportunity to ignore the unique circumstances surrounding this year’s competition, so we embraced the challenges to produce technology-driven, optimistic deliverables. We designed the journal for electronic-viewing and focused our efforts on the website and augmented reality elements, powered by RealityBLU. To build community, we recruited the help of chapter general body members to design a Journal Roadmap and illustrations.

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The Journal Roadmap connects the articles to our theme by showing each article as “located” in a different region of California. At each location, there are key symbols and icons that represent the region. Additionally, on each article’s title page, we featured an illustration of the location that depicts classic landscapes, landmarks, and symbols of California’s culture. We would like to give a special thanks to our Chapter Advisor, Dr. Rachel Ruoxi Ma, the Cal Poly Graphic Communication department faculty and staff, and our generous supporters and sponsors. I am so proud of my team for their hard work and perseverance in a virtual production environment. That being said, please enjoy our journal.

Sincerely,

Emily McSwain

President’s Letter

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Journal Roadmap

Napa Valley

How to Solve the Future of the Wine Industry

San Francisco

Paso Robles San Luis Obispo

Pandemic vs Lower Income Neighborhoods

Wine Packaging Tails Pet Boutique

Los Angeles

The Link Between Film and Society



How to Solve the Future of the Wine Industry: An Analysis of the Wine Industry’s Packaging Options when Targeting the Millennial and Gen-Z Demographics Spencer Held


Abstract The United States wine industry is currently undergoing a consumer reset, in which wineries are evaluating their practices to discover how they can better market and sell wine. According to Rob McMillan, EVP and founder of Silicon Valley Bank’s Wine Division and author of the State of the Wine Industry Report, boomers are no longer the target market for wine growth, with wine consumption dwindling—given most are retiring in the next decade. In order for the wine industry to grow and excel, wineries must engage the likes of young, millennial and Gen Z consumers. This paper argues that canned packaging in the wine industry is successful at targeting the millennial and Gen Z demographics because of benefits such as portability, recyclability, and singleserve options. Spencer Held’s research findings and interviews with Union Wine Company indicate that wineries that have adopted can packaging are increasing output and reaching higher levels of growth than wineries that solely focused on glass bottle packaging. By researching the relationship between wine packaging type and target demographic consumption, it becomes fairly evident that the industry as a whole needs to adapt in order to continue sustained levels of growth. Canned wines versus bottled wines will continue to be a significant talking point in the wine industry over the next decade. Innovative technologies and changing consumer values are leading to the modernization of the wine industry’s packaging choices. Held’s research reflects the notion that the adoption and implementation of canned packaging

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will lead to an increased consumption by both the millennial and Generation Z cohorts as well as increased sales for the wineries themselves.

How to Solve the Future of the Wine Industry: 15


Introduction The modern world is constantly evolving and developing into a global system of trade and interaction. Commodities are produced daily and traded across boundaries in order to be consumed by the end-user. The wine industry is no exception; it has evolved throughout history as part of culture, religion, and diet. Although its origins trace back to an era before Christ, in modern day Europe, Spencer Held will be focusing his research on the wine industry and packaging value chain within the United States. Held’s analysis will focus on the current state of the wine industry and how aluminum can wine packaging can be a solution for wineries to market to the vital younger generations of consumers. The packaging value chain of wine has undergone numerous changes and innovations throughout its history. In nearly 4100 BC, the first wineries were discovered in Armenia. Along with this discovery was the finding of the first known material used to store the wine: earthenware or clay containers. By the third century AD, the Romans adopted wine from the Gauls in France and used wooden barrels, rather than ceramic vessels because of their prior experience with beer stored in barrels. Glass, as a means of packaging, began to be used in the 17th century to store wine. By roughly the early 1800s, glass wine bottles began to resemble the traditional 750 milliliter wine bottle that we see today. One of the biggest nuances with wine is the spoilage and bottles are able to utilize cork as a means of limiting the amount of oxygen entering the bottle. The 21st century has brought about one of the biggest revelations in the history of wine storage and transport. Plastic, a light and cheap material,

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is being used to create new wine bottles. Boxed wine, or wine that is packaged in a plastic bladder with an air-tight seal emerging from a larger cardboard box, is another innovation that is currently gathering steam. However, the most innovative and norm challenging form of packaging to hit the wine industry is wine produced in 350 milliliter aluminum cans.

The Problem The biggest obstacle for the future success of the wine industry in the 21st century is the shift in consumer ideology between the baby boomer and millennial generations. The introduction of cans into the wine industry packaging space has given young consumers a reason to try out wine as their alcoholic beverage of choice. Millennials are driven by sustainable, yet cheap consumer behavior. The wine industry needs to modernize its processes in order to succeed for generations to come.

The Study In this study, the modernization of wine is closely analyzed with respect to the choice of packaging between standard 750 milliliter glass bottles and the innovative 350 milliliter aluminum can. Surveys were conducted on two unique fronts. First, data was gathered from one of the largest and most notable wineries in the United States, that utilizes production of both aluminum cans and glass bottles. Questions were asked about packaging choices and associated costs with those choices to gather insights into market decision making. Additionally, data was gathered from approximately 275 consumers via social media outreach to get consumer

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preferences on sustainability, innovation, cost, and user experiences in wine consumption. After data collection, analysis was performed to develop an understanding of how consumers of specific age groups view different forms of packaging for wine. Analysis was also performed on the wine industry’s production to further evaluate the production costs and benefits of aluminum and glass packaging.

Literature Review A Brief History of Wine A brief history of the wine industry and its modernization is required in order to establish both context and rationale for this thesis. Wine is a commodity that has been produced for thousands of years. The first winery dates back to ancient Armenia around the year 4100 BC, with ancient Greece following after around 2500 BC. Greek civilization is credited with being one of the first to plant, produce and export quality wine across the Mediterranean. The ancient Greeks worshiped Dionysus, the god of the grape-harvest and winemaking. According to Wine in Moderation, the Greek historian Thucydides stated, “the peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learned to cultivate the olive and the vine.” The Romans followed the Greek affection of wine by adopting it as their own. As the Roman Empire began to expand across what we know today as the Old World, they brought their main industries of olive oil and wine with them. Vineyards across the globe in France, Italy, and Spain owe their history to the Romans and their innate love of wine.

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Religion and the church itself were seen as vital factors in the viticulture movement. Wine in Medieval Europe was dominated by the church and monks. During the Dark Ages, garden and crop production became an extremely important part of a monasteries’ daily work. The monks were one of the first peoples to understand and plant the groundwork to viticulture; monks learned about differences in soils, success of crops in a given area, grape varieties, and temperature ranges. One of the most notable factors about the rise of the church and viticulture was that monks were able to read and write, which meant that information was recorded on viticulture for the first time ever, for future generations to learn and improve upon. For the sake of this paper, the transition from a Europeandominated wine industry to the United States was critical. The 19th century brought an unfortunate strain of phylloxera, an insect, that nearly destroyed all of Europe’s vineyards. In order to preserve the wine varietals, Europeans decided to graft the European vine species onto American rootstock, which had developed a natural resistance to the ill-fated side effects of the insect. While this was easily the hardest challenge the wine industry has ever had to face, it opened the wine industry to a rapidly expanding market of wine consumers. Over the last 50 years, supermarkets have gained the luxury of being able to carry and stock wine. This has allowed the average household consumer to purchase wine on a consistent basis. However, it wasn’t until the 1970s that United States wineries gained international recognition. The Judgment of Paris was a blind wine tasting event in 1976 in Paris, where French judges carried

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out blind taste tests of French and California chardonnays and red wines. California wines rated best in both of the categories, shocking the judges and the wine connoisseurs of the era. This judgment allowed the United States to enter the global competition of best wine producers.

The Current State of the Wine Industry in the U.S. The wine industry has been revolutionized into a modern day science and art. Operations such as varietal choice, refrigeration, packaging, and brand logo, work to differentiate one winery from another. The Silicon Valley Bank Wine Division creates an annual State of the US Wine Industry report, in which Executive Vice President Rob McMillan and his team analyze their 2019 hypotheses and look forward to 2020 with predictions and observations. According to McMillan, the 1990s was dominated by wine taste, the 2000s was dominated by evolved sales channels, and the 2020s will be dominated by efficiencies (McMillan, 2020). McMillan believes that you will not only need to make superb wine and have accelerated sales channels, but also need to make operation and marketing choices to run your businesses as efficiently as possible, in order to have the highest possible economic margins. This report also discusses the largest problems that the wine industry will face in the future. The review states that the largest obstacle for the wine industry’s growth is the retiring of baby boomers and the influx of spirits-dominated millennials and Gen Z individuals, who consume less alcohol than previous generations. The question for wineries in 2020 and beyond is how to attract and market to young consumers, while maintaining business operations as efficiently as possible. “The winners

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tomorrow will be intrepid and willing to try new approaches and change the status quo” (McMillan, 2020). The current state of the wine industry does not provide a promising outlook for the future without significant change. An oversupply of wine across the United States throughout 2019 is being combined with a decrease in overall growth of volume over the past two years. According to SipSource, wine growth has had a negative trajectory throughout 2019 and by the speed of the decline, it is safe to say that the trend will continue into 2020. Even though the industry as a whole is declining, there are certain packaging options within the industry that are actually increasing in value. According to SipSource, when analyzing the growth rate and share of formats within different packaged wine options, the 375 milliliter option is growing at the highest percent. The 375 milliliter format is very popular amongst younger consumers who are consuming less alcohol overall and want that alcohol at a lower price. Opening up and enjoying a 750 ml glass bottle of wine is no longer becoming the go-to option for wine consumption. The younger generation is craving an option that is portable, cheaper, and ideally single-serve. The two most affordable, environmentally-friendly and single-serve containers in 375 milliliter and 500 milliliter formats are wine that is served via box or can. The key for both of these packaging options remains whether or not they can gather a larger share of the packaging format. Also, 750 milliliter bottles are seeing a decline in growth rate even though they remain the most popular

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option amongst wine packagers. Researchers have also discovered that the 750 ml bottle is a lot to drink for a 60 year old consumer and that there will be roughly 130% more mature consumers who, through divorice or death of a spouse, will be living in a single-person household by the year 2030 (McMillan, 2020). Therefore, it is more than likely that those consumers resort to consuming wine via the single-serve options of 375 ml or 500 ml.

The Keys to Success The key to success in marketing to millennials and the new generation of potential wine drinkers is recognizing what is important to them, and leveraging those values in brand or marketing campaigns. Millennials are skeptical about the divide between the rich and poor and could care less about a family or fancy name on the bottle. In contrast, they care about ingredients, sustainability, and how the brand or company is making the world a better place. Social responsibility is a key factor that is innately embedded in purchase decisions for this generation. If wineries are able to solve the consumer value crisis, the wine industry will gain a growing class of peoples that will see the industry succeed as a whole. The millennial value can be broken down into quality, experience and price. Quality is associated with sustainable practices and tasty varietals. Although the wine experience is typically perceived as tasting rooms at wineries, millennials care about consuming wine on the go and experiencing their single-serve wines across a variety of locations around the globe. Lastly, price is a vital component because the younger generation is

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seen as frugal and would rather spend small amounts of money on single-serve cans than on larger bottles that will last longer periods of time. If wineries want to solve the crisis of the younger generation and see the industry flourish, they need to modernize to get more intact with the values associated with younger generations. This is where the current state of the wine industry stands: an overabundance of wine in the market and a new generation of consumers who have yet to be convinced why they should spend their hard earned income on wine.

Procedure In order to better understand the problems associated with the current state of the wine industry, two unique surveys were created. The first survey targeted 275 wine consumers in order to gain data about wine preferences and preferred packaging types. The second questionnaire was aimed at discovering what wineries are doing today in order to adjust to the changing market and better grasp the new target demographic. The combination of these two surveys will provide research and data into what values consumers are currently prioritizing in their alcoholic beverage purchases and how wineries can adjust to market to these consumers.

Consumer Survey The first survey was performed via a Google Forms questionnaire, shared across social media platforms including: Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. The survey was also distributed via text message, allowing it to be shared with third parties and strangers. The survey contained a

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series of 16 questions ranging from demographic questions to preferences on wine packaging formats. Consumer Survey Questions: 1. How old are you? 2. What is your gender? 3. Personality Test: Are you more traditional or innovative? 4. Do you prefer drinking beverages via glass bottles or aluminum cans? 5. Are you a wine drinker? 6. If yes, how often do you drink wine? 7. If you do not drink wine, what do you drink? 8. If you are going to drink wine, what do you value most? 9. How important is price in your wine purchase? 10. How important is sustainability in your consumer preferences? 11. Have you ever seen wine packaged in cans? 12. Have you ever purchased wine in cans? 13. Would you ever purchase wine in cans? 14. Which packaging option is more visually appealing? 15. According to Nielsen data 2019, sales data for wines sold in cans has grown 67% over the past year. Why do you believe that is? 16. Without sacrificing taste, would you purchase wine in cans knowing it is both portable and environmentally friendly?

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Union Wine Company Survey The second questionnaire gathered an understanding of how businesses are modernizing by incorporating aluminum cans in 375 ml packaging options. Union Wine Company, an Oregon-based wine producer, is at the forefront of the modernization of the industry. Union has three distinct brands that operate under its roof including Underwood, Kings Ridge, and Alchemist. Both Kings Ridge and Alchemist are Willamette Valley produced wines, packaged in traditional 750 ml glass bottles. The separation of these two brands is mainly in price. Kings Ridge wines fall in the $14 to $18 range and Alchemist wines sell for $28 respectively. The final brand, Underwood, is a diverse Oregon vineyard that will be the focus of this survey. What is unique about Underwood is that they sell their wines in two different packaging options. The first option is a traditional 750 ml glass bottle and the second is a 375 ml aluminum can. As one of the first and most successful brands to bring 375 ml aluminum wine coolers to market, it was imperative to understand their unique business decisions and why they continue to create wines in this new packaging trend. As such, a series of 11 questions were asked to Amy Carr, Logistics and CCS supervisor of Union Wine Company. Carr was able to spread the survey to different members of the organization in order to gain a better understanding of their business choices.

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Union Wine Company Survey Questions: 1. What is your primary method for packaging wine? 2. What are the costs associated with your packaging choice? 3. What are you currently selling your bottles or cans for? 4. Who is your target demographic? 5. Why is that your target demographic? 6. What is your motivation for the design of your packaging–is it designed to influence your target demographic? 7. Did you consider ease of use when choosing your packaging option or did you follow traditional norms? 8. Do you consider your packaging choice environmentally friendly? 9. What is your target sales number? 10. What is your rate of growth from 2017–2018 and 2018–2019? 11. According to the 2020 State of the Wine Industry Report, “baby boomers are moving into retirement and declining in both their numbers and per capita consumption, while millennials aren’t yet embracing wine consumption, choosing to stick with spirits or abstain altogether.” Why do you believe millennials aren’t yet embracing wine consumption and do you believe that wine in cans is the solution? These two surveys are critical to the fundamental understanding of how consumers view the future of the wine industry. The ability to speak directly to a winery, who has

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already decided to embrace the change with one of their in-home brands, speaks volumes about what changes are needed to succeed.

Results and Analysis Consumer Survey Because the procedure is broken down into two distinct surveys, Held will deliver and analyze the results accordingly. The first survey was given out to 275 distinct wine consumers across a wide variety of age groups of both male and female origin. Although over 50% of the survey was responded to by an age group of consumers ranging from 21-30, another 36.1% was answered by the baby boomer and Gen X cohorts. Therefore, there is a diverse range of participants in the survey that

How old are you?

61+ 51–60

24.4% 57.5%

41–50 31–40 21–30

Figure 1: Age demographics

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What is your gender? 36.4%

Prefer not to say Female 36.4%

Male 62.2%

Figure 2: Gender demographics

Personality test: are you more... Innovative: There has to be a better way to do this 30.9%

Traditional: You like things the way they are

69.1%

Figure 3: Personality test

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mainly make up the baby boomer and millennial demographic cohorts. Women make up slightly less than 2/3 or 62.2% of the participants in the study. Held does not believe that this has any significant meaning due to the fact that in 2018, men were higher than women in terms of total alcohol consumption and wine consumption (Conway, 2019). Over 2/3 of participants responded that based on their own personality, they would consider themselves more innovative than traditional. This background question is vital to questions further along in the survey because it is critical to get an understanding from the participant if they feel that they are open to change. 30.9% of people asked still prefer to keep things as they are in a more traditional manner. Although one person abstained from answering, an overwhelming majority of people prefer to drink beverages out of a glass bottle. Nearly 9 out of every 10 partakers prefer bottles over cans. It is very difficult to create glass bottle packaging in 375 ml options. This data seems to state that innately, an outstanding majority of beverage consumers in the market prefer glass bottles over aluminum cans. This information is critical in understanding a hesitancy in the market for both producers to make beverage packaging in cans and consumers to purchase those products. The most fundamental question in this entire first questionnaire is demonstrated in Figure 5. Out of the 275 people questioned, 245 participants responded that they do in fact drink wine. Even though the questionnaire was marketed

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Do you prefer to drink beverages via... Glass bottle

10.2%

Aluminum can

89.8%

Figure 4: Beverage packaging preference

Are you a wine drinker? Yes

10.9%

No

89.1%

Figure 5: Wine drinking participants

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If yes, how often do you drink wine? N/A 4.7%

10.4%

20.4%

10%

16.7%

Rarely or on occasion Once a month Once every two weeks

37.8%

Once a week Daily

Figure 6: Frequency of wine consumption

as a consumer wine survey, there are bound to be participants who engage in the survey and do not actually drink nor enjoy wine. Still, nearly 9 out of every 10 participants do drink wine, which means that data and analysis is still valid for research. 74.9% of people ingest wine daily, weekly or every two weeks. That is a remarkably high number of consistent wine drinkers in the market. This demonstrates that regardless of age, there is a demand for wine in the market and that consumption is happening at rapid rates. It seems that 180 of the 275 responders also enjoy drinking other alcoholic beverages and 4 of those 180 completely abstain from alcoholic beverages in general. The most common alcoholic beverage options are beer, in either cans

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If you do not drink wine, what do you drink? Hard Alcohol

Alcohol Type

Beer (in cans) Beer (in bottles) Seltzer or Cider I don’t drink alcohol Other 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Percent of particpants

Figure 7: Alternative alcoholic beverage preferences

If you are going to drink wine, what do you value most?

Tradition (the sound of opening a bottle or can)

16.1%

Cost (how expensive or inexpensive the wine is) Convenience (the ability to take wine places) 76.6%

Sustainability (how sustainable the packaging is) Flavor (how the wine tastes)

Figure 8: Consumer values for wine

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or bottles, and hard liquor. The rise of hard seltzers and ciders follows closely behind. It is important to note that all of these three categories are the ones that are stealing the young consumer cohort away from drinking wine, especially hard liquor. According to SipSource, over the past two years, wines consumed in restaurants and in-home have seen a steady decrease in growth rate. Young consumers believe spirits and beers are simpler options than wine. Millennials are either renting apartments or beginning to own homes and being able to store wine properly can be very troublesome in 750 ml bottles. A cocktail bar or room in a fridge for a 12-pack of beer seems much more suitable for the lives of young consumers. Once again, the question for wine’s future success seems to come down to: how do you make wine more convenient for young consumers to enjoy? As mentioned before, it is essential to understand the values of a typical consumer in the market. As with most commodities and products, taste and cost were the highest variable factors. Tradition, sustainability and convenience were valued very low in comparison to taste and cost. It is important to note the layout of this question when dissecting the data. The question only allows for the consumer to choose what he or she values most. Therefore, this does not mean that consumers do not value items such as sustainability or convenience for example, but rather that taste is far more important in deciding whether they are going to purchase the wine or not.

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How important is price in your wine purchase? 150

Number Count

120

90

60

30

0

1

2

3

4

5

Rating (1–5)

Figure 9: Wine pricing importance

How important is sustainability in your wine purchase? 150

Number Count

120

90

60

30

0

1

2

3

4

5

Rating (1–5)

Figure 10: Wine sustainability importance

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Figures 9 and 10 follow very similar trends, following Figure 8’s evaluation of consumer values. Both price and sustainability are rated 3’s on a scale of 1-5 in importance on consumer preferences. This is very intriguing data due to the fact that Figure 8 showed that price was the second highest consumer value. However, it was most popularly rated in the following question a 3 out of 5 in importance. Sustainability, another option on the list of values in Figure 8, was only given 3 out of 275 votes. However, it was most popularly rated in a 3 out of 5 in importance with a more even distribution across the other numbers compared to price. As mentioned above, just because sustainability is not the most important value in consumer preferences does not mean that consumers will not pick the more sustainable brand over the other if price and taste are similar. In order to fully evaluate consumer preferences, it is imperative to take a step back and see how a consumer views the product. It is even more imperative to see if the consumer actually does view the product. 177 of the 275 of the contributors to this study confirm that they have actually taken notice of wine packaged in cans, while the other 36.1% say that they have actually never seen it. This statistic could be due to grocery stores’ placement of wine in cans along with the other canned beverages that are not beer. When a consumer goes into a store to purchase wine, it is very unlikely that they will go out of the wine aisle of the store filled with bottles to find the wine in different packaging forms. In order to get a higher number of consumers purchasing wine in 375 ml cans, grocery and liquor stores must be convinced to place them in the wine section along with the

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other glass bottles. It will be fundamental for wineries to be able to get consumers to either make planned purchases of canned wine via marketing campaigns or to get them to make impulse buy by viewing this new alternative in stores. One of the most common ways to analyze the consumer decision making process is the five stage model proposed by Cox. et al (1983). The five stages include: problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post-purchase evaluation. All five stages make up how a consumer makes a purchasing decision. The fourth stage is the most important stage because the consumer has reviewed all alternatives and come to a final purchase decision. Purchases can further be classified into three different types: planned purchase, partially purchase, and impulse purchase (Kacen & Lee, 2002). Planned purchasing requires a combination of rational decision making with time-consuming research for a certain product. Partially purchased is a mixture of both planned and impulse where research is done to investigate a certain commodity, but impulses to purchase a similar product are also valid. An impulse purchase however requires a sudden and very strong urge to purchase a product when he or she sees it without prior knowledge or investigation. Although 63.9% of attendees have seen canned wine in stores, only 25.3%, or ¼ of them have actually purchased the product. This means that wine brands that are creating canned wine are losing roughly 38.3% of the market . These participants have identified the 375 ml wine cans and decided for whatever reason that they did not want to make the purchase.

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Have you ever seen wine packaged in cans?

Yes No

36.1% 63.9%

Figure 11: Consumer attention to wine in cans

Have you ever purchased wine in cans?

No 25.3%

Yes

74.7%

Figure 12: Consumer purchases of wine in cans

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Figure 13: Underwood Pinot Noir bottle and can

Figure 14 is central to the belief and hypothesis that wineries need to change and adapt to the younger generation in order to get their business. Although 42.6% of participants confirm that they are open to purchasing wine in cans, nearly 36.5% are not convinced. This means that there is a large section of the market that simply does not understand the environmental, cost, and portability benefits of canned versus glass packaging. In order to grab a larger section of the market and the environmentally-conscious millennial cohort, brands need to re-market in order to better understand the values of the millennial. If brands are able to convince the “unsure” group of contests to purchase canned wine, the market share of potential customers nearly doubles from 42.6% to 79.1%.

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Would you ever purchase wine in cans?

Yes Maybe or I’m not convinced

36.5%

42.6%

No

20.9%

Figure 14: Canned wine decision making

Which packaging option is more visually appealing?

Glass bottle

14.9%

Aluminum can

85.1%

Figure 15: Visual test

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There is a social stigma that glass bottles are optically better than aluminum cans. This hypothesis is confirmed in Figure 15 where most people, regardless of beverage, prefer the visual appeal of glass bottles over aluminum cans. Even though aluminum cans are one of the biggest driving forces to get the younger generation to partake in wine consumption, the visual appeal of glass bottles is a meaningful distraction for consumers to continue with traditional packaging methods. In the survey, Held attempted to get consumer feedback on why wine sold in cans has grown 67% over the past year. The two most contested answers to the question were the portability of 375 ml cans and their ability to be a single serving container. This serving size allows a consumer to have multiple varieties or types of wine in one sitting. In order to sell to a younger generation that is constantly moving, the portability of aluminum cans versus glass bottles remains the single-most defining factor. The final question in the survey was given intentionally with bias in order to see if the phrasing and choice of words could persuade consumers to change their minds about wine in cans. Interestingly enough, the results are outstanding. By mentioning that wines in cans are more portable and environmentally-friendly without sacrificing the actual taste, the percentage of people willing to purchase wine in cans went up drastically. After providing the benefits to having wine in cans, the number of people willing to purchase wine in cans went up by 26.4%. The number of people still not sold on wine in cans went down by 14.1%, and the number of people who said they would not purchase it at all went down

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Without sacrificing taste, would you purchase wine in cans knowing it is both portable and environmentally friendly?

Yes 22.4%

Not convinced on wine in cans 8.7%

69%

No

Figure 16: Final question

by 12.2%. This data is integral in understanding why younger generations are not currently purchasing wine at the rate of the older generations. The environmental and cost benefits of 375 ml canned wine would resonate outstandingly to the values and beliefs of the younger generations. Brands need to start or continue with marketing campaigns to make sure the millennial cohort is informed of the added benefits of wine packaged in cans.

Underwood Survey The modernization of the wine industry involves different companies willingness to adapt to new trends and values of consumers. With a market-wide desire for a more affordable and portable option, Union Wine Company is at the

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forefront of the movement to give consumers the option of a traditional 750 ml glass bottle or a 375 ml aluminum can with their Underwood brand. As one of the most notable brands that offers both bottle and canned wine options, it was imperative to get their perspective on their current business model, and where they believe the future of the industry lies. The first question asked Union what their primary method of packaging is for Underwood. Their response was that they now produce more canned than bottled wines at roughly a two-to-one ratio. Figure 16 demonstrates on a visible scale how much Union Wine Company values aluminum cans, and where they see the market is trending towards. At nearly 2/3 packaging production for Underwood, aluminum cans seem to be dominating their market as a new and innovative approach to wine packaging. The second and third question involved Union Wine Company’s costs to produce their packaging as well as what they sell it for. Cans are less expensive to produce than glasses by about 30% says their management. There are still numerous costs associated with wine packaging including the price of the can or bottle itself, subsidiary costs such as cardboard cases, overhead, and inventory. The benefit of the cost in production for cans is also reflected upon the consumer. The retail price for an Underwood wine is $7 per can and $14 per bottle, a 100% increase in price. The decrease in production costs is passed onto the consumer as they now only pay half price for a serving of wine in canned packaging versus bottled.

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The following three questions are references to the target demographic of the Underwood brand and why Underwood chooses both canned and bottled packaging. The target demographic for Underwood wines are people 21-45 years of age, or the Y and Z Generations. They are specifically targeting the consumers whose interests range from the outdoors, van life culture, young parents, extreme sports, creative and foodies—coinciding with a lot of the same values that the younger cohorts generate (Carr, 2020). As well, Underwood is attempting to specifically focus on females with mid-range incomes. The introduction and rise of young females in the workplace creates a new consumer group with disposable income that the alcoholic beverage industry has yet to take advantage of. The nature of canned wine is perfect for peoples whose lifestyles revolve around being active in the outdoors. The two most adverse aspects of bottled wine are that they weigh quite a lot compared to other beverages, and that most bottles require a bottle opener for the cork. Canned wine is extremely portable and lightweight, as well as has an easy flip tab opening. The price point of the wine is also much more approachable for younger consumers. Canned wine keeps it simple for the many new millennials who do not have a vast knowledge on varieties, tastes, and price points of different wines. In their own research and development, Underwood has discovered that females do the majority of grocery shopping and wine buying in households. Because Underwood is mainly sold through grocery stores, larger wine shops and liquor stores, the main consumers tend to be females.

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Union Wine company was the first winery to put the same quality wine that they put in bottles into cans; therefore, they believe that the container the wine comes in is not as important as the wine itself. This belief directly relates to a study that WIC Research tested and reported on in 2019. They conducted a blind taste of 86 wine consumers aged 21-74 in order to gauge consumer preference between bottled and canned wines (Newhart, 2019). The study used four identical wines from the same winery that were produced in both bottle and canned packaging. The varieties tested were dry chardonnay, riesling, rosé and a sparkling sweet moscato. The wines were poured into a cup for the study. The results were outstanding as 48.5% preferred the bottled wine, 45.3% preferred the canned wine, and 5.8% had no real preference between the two. Another interesting fact about the test subjects was that 57% or 49 out of 86 participants considered themselves as having an above-normal wine knowledge or IQ. With this type of knowledge, there were numerous reasons, including economic and sustainability benefits, to try different forms of packaging, and canned wine seemed like a great idea for the company to try out. The packaging form has been widely accepted and desired by their target demographic. This is the reason Underwood now produces cans at double the rate they produce bottles. Another extremely important aspect of the Underwood brands is the simplicity in the design. They do this to attract consumers who enjoy simplicity as an aesthetic. Even though females make up their main purchasing group, the Underwood brand is very gender neutral to attract both

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Figure 17: Collection of Underwood canned wines

males and females. Underwood has a very strong brand identity and their simple aesthetic and logo play a critical role. The simple and neutral design also allows the company to create custom can designs around the main brand identity and logos for season or special release wines. Figure 17 displays four unique wines that Underwood produces. The first two are gender-neutral cans with silver and black design and typography. The other two cans in the figure are pink and floral, which resonate more with the female purchasing group. As such, they allow numerous visual design options for all different types of consumer groups. However, new color releases such as the strawberry cooler, on the far right of Figure 17, still maintain brand awareness with the inclusion of the square Underwood logo with the wine type, Oregon location, ABV, and size of the container. Underwood continues to drive and market their mission of creating an everyday, approachable drinking wine.

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Questions 7 and 8 were created in direct relation to the consumer survey. Both of these questions were in correspondence of the ideas of innovation versus traditional methods

and

packaging

choices

being

sustainable.

Underwood creates their wines in can packaging, so that their consumers can enjoy wines in any way they desire. Wine is a commodity that has no boundaries on how or where it has to be consumed. Can packaging allows consumers to enjoy Underwood wines anywhere and anyway they choose to. They also intentionally chose the 375 milliliter can design, so that it is exactly half of the size of their glass bottle options. This option allows consumers to spend less and carry a smaller beverage container. Figures 3 and 16 in the consumer survey ask whether the consumers consider themselves innovative or traditional and if they would purchase wine in cans given reasoning. The data shows that 69.1% of people asked consider themselves innovative in Figure 3, and then 69% of people asked would purchase wine in cans in Figure 16. These numbers are nearly identical meaning given a new innovative form of packaging and marketing its benefits, consumers are more than willing to give that new packaging a chance. The following question asks whether the innovation of canned packaging stems from the desire to be more environmentally friendly. The simple answer to the question is yes. Canned packaging is the number one recycled beverage container in the world and is infinitely recyclable. As stated by Wastecare Corporation, it only takes 60 days from the time a can goes into recycling for it to be back on the shelf. Naturally, cans are lighter, smaller, and use less cardboard to pack and ship. According to Underwood, glass bottles put twice the amount of trucks

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on the road to ship the exact same amount of wine (Carr, 2020). A huge aspect of millennial values is the product’s relation to sustainability. The younger generation is much more in touch with how products affect the Earth than baby boomers are. The introduction of canned wine is a packaging option that has the environmental benefits that the younger cohort desires from the wine industry. It is not pivotal to the information in this survey to disclose specific sales numbers. The following questions were meant to get a better understanding of how a winery that is producing both canned and wine packaging is doing in comparison to the industry average. According to the SVB Peer Group Analysis Database, the 2019 sales growth rate for family wineries varied greatly, but reached a maximum growth of 22.34% in the fourth quartile. Underwood’s wine growth increased over 5% in 2018-2019 to over 30%, which gives them greater than a 7% increase in growth versus the industry average. Underwood believes that this growth coincides with the recent surge of consumers willing to consume wine in cans. The final question in the survey to Union Wine Company was in relation to a statement in the 2020 State of the Wine Industry Report. The statement, “baby boomers are moving into retirement and declining in both their numbers and per capita consumption, while millennials aren’t yet embracing wine consumption, choosing to stick with spirits or abstain altogether,” has tremendous meaning for this thesis paper. The question asked to Union was why they believed millennials aren’t yet embracing wine consumption and if wine packaged in cans is the solution. Their response is that they

How to Solve the Future of the Wine Industry: 47


are not sure if wine in cans is ultimately the solution, but it is a great starting point in the transition of marketing to millennials. No matter the age, consumers love reliability. Underwood is committed to keeping their brand of wine whether it is in a bottle, can, or some new form of packaging that fits the younger generation’s lifestyles better. The convenience of the can including portability, single-serve size, recyclability, and affordability all play a tremendous role in the development of young consumer groups purchasing wine on a consistent basis.

Summary and Significance of Results The way we drink wine is evolving. This decade is driven by individuals who are constantly on the go—traveling, working, running errands, etc. Many people want to drink alcohol at the beach, park, and pool, but none of these places allow glass packaging. The ability to take a 375 ml can instead of a heavy 750 ml glass bottle to any desired destination is a great benefit of canned wine. Consumers have the desire for single-serve and smaller options. Younger generations are also far more environmentally conscious than older generations. The carbon footprint of glass bottles from producer to end-consumer is far higher than that of aluminum cans. The environmentally-friendly consumer is now taking that into consideration, when making their purchases. With a new generation of consumers, winemakers have actually been able to shed the negative connotations and stereotypes associated with canned and boxed wine says Vice President Terry Lozoff of Latitude Beverage (Swartz, 2019).

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This study was designed in order to answer whether the adoption of canned packaging by wineries will lead to increase in consumption by both millennial and Gen Z consumers and increased sales for the wineries themselves. Based on the survey, it is clear to see that wine consumers and especially millennials are willing to purchase wine in canned packaging. The biggest pinpoint or blockade in the rise of canned wine is that many consumers do not really understand or know why canned wine is potentially better than wine served in glass bottles. It is extremely clear that the first brand to market a specific can or brand itself to the benefits of canned packaging will consume a large part of the target demographic. As shown in the final question of the survey given to 275 wine consumers, small marketing tools to increase consumer awareness were seen to increase total sales and growth. When given the benefits of canned packaging, the number of people willing to purchase wine in cans went up by 26.4%, the number of people still not sold on canned wine went down by 14.1%, and the number of people who said they would not consider the purchase at all went down by 12.2%. The key to success for wine industries in the near future is developing a way to connect to the core values of the young consumer. With sustainability, price and single-serving containers at the forefront of the modernization of the wine industry, wineries will be forced to adopt new packaging technologies as well as ways to market to the millennial and Gen Z demographics. While aluminum canned wine might not be the final solution, it is a step in the right direction. The hope for continued wine industry success will rely

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on wineries, regardless of size, ability to adapt to changing market conditions to better suit the demands of their target demographics.

Suggested Further Research Following the completion of this study, Held found numerous examples of potential, future research opportunities on this subject. There are several modifications that could be made on survey topics and questions in order to better engage the data collected and answer which packaging method is best for both consumers and wineries.

Future Research Proposals: • Create a survey or study greater than 86 people in order to test whether the flavor profile of wine is affected by different containers or packaging. The initial study achieved by WIC Research is a good starting base, but a larger consumer base would provide more beneficial results. Gender and age would also need to be factored in as it was not in the WIC research. • Data collection of outlets that would sell cans on a regular basis. In Japan, for example, wine in cans are very popular, and the growth has been attributed to Japan’s embrace of vending machines to sell wine in cans. A collection of all the potential ways to retail cans would provide interesting feedback for where wineries can invest money, instead of traditional tasting rooms. • All of the data collected in the first survey of this study was from 275 consumers, mainly from Southern California. As such, there would need to be another data

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set collected in other regions of the United States to further validate the findings. As well, the second survey could attribute multiple wineries’ perspectives. It was vital to the research to understand how and why the first winery decided to package in cans. It is equally important in further research to decipher why some wineries are choosing not to change their packaging. • The final extension of this study is to evaluate other packaging methods besides aluminum cans. While canned wine is at the forefront of the innovative wine packaging movement, there are several other potential contemporary packaging methods that need to be analyzed including boxed wine, wine packaged in 100 ml glass cylinders, and kegs. There is also potential for a number of these packaging innovations to be used together to solve the millennial crisis.

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References A history of wine bottles - Garcon Wines. (2017, October). Retrieved from https://medium.com/@ GarconWines/a-history-of-wine-bottles-666f6597f52b Aluminum Cans Recycling: Consideration of Balers / Recycling Equipment for Aluminum. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.wastecare.com/Articles/Aluminum_Cans_ Recycling.htm Cain. (2019, July). Canned vs. Bottled: Which Type of Wine Is More Sustainable? Retrieved from https://fortune.com/ longform/canned-wine sustainability-environment/ Carr, A. (2020, May). “Union Wine Company Survey Regarding their Underwood Brand” [E-mail interview]. Conway, J. (2019, July). Wine and liquor purchasing by gender U.S. 2018. Retrieved from https://www. statista.com/statistics/892630/wine-and-liquor purchasing-by-gender-us/ Dudovskiy, J. (2013, July). Consumer decision making process: A detailed analysis. Retrieved from https://research-methodology.net/consumer decision-making-process-a-detailed-analysis/ Hess S., Singh, J., Metcalf, L. E., & Danes, J. (2014). The Impact of Consumer Product Package Quality on Consumption Satisfaction, Brand Perceptions, Consumer Investment and Behavior. Journal of Applied Packaging Research, 6(1), 23-39. doi:10.14448/japr.01.0003

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History & Tradition Of Wine. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.wineinmoderation.eu/culture/ history-and-tradition Inc. (2019, September). Why Canned Wine is Here to Stay. Retrieved from https://www.foleyfoodandwinesociety.com/Magazine/News-and-Articles/Why Canned-Wine-is-Here-to-Stay Kacen J., & Lee, J. A. (2002). The influence of culture on consumer impulsive buying behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 12(2), 163-176. doi:10.1207/ s15327663jcp1202_08 Lazenne. (2019, May). A Brief History of Wine. Retrieved from https://lazenne.com/blogs/ lazenneblog/a-brief-history-of-wine Leib, R. (2019, March). 5 potential health hazards of Canned wine. Retrieved from https://www.livestrong.com/article/13714078-cons-of-canned wine/ McMillan, R. (2020, January). 2020 SVB Wine Report. Retrieved from https://www.svb.com/wine-report Newhart. (2019, August). Bottled wine narrowly beats out canned wine in flavor: WICresearch. Retrieved from https://www.beveragedaily.com/Article/2019/08/20/ Bottled-wine-narrowly-beats out-canned-wine-in-flavor Pomranz, M. (2019, August). Can People Taste the Difference Between Canned and Bottled Wine? Retrieved from https://www.foodandwine.com/wine/ can-bottle-wine-taste-test-survey

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Swartz, K. (2019, June). Why Wine Packaging has Evolved. Retrieved from https://beveragedynamics.com/2019/06/11/ wine-packaged-differently/ Teague. (2019, August). A Skeptic’s Guide to Wine in Cans. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/ articles/a-skeptics-guide-to-wine-in-cans-11565893272 The Benefits of Canned and Boxed Wines. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://drizly.com/the-benefits-of-canned-andboxed-wines/e-e64c059db0aca552 Union Wine Co. doubles production, adds sales reps beyond Oregon. (2018, May 24). Retrieved from https:// greatnorthwestwine.com/2018/05/20/union-wine co-doubles-production-adds-sales-reps-beyond-oregon/ Williams. (2019, August). Is The Future Of Wine In The Can? Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/michellewilliams/2019/08/28/is-the-future-of wine-in-the-can/

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Pandemic vs Lower Income Neighborhoods in San Francisco Tanya Ravichandran


Abstract For this final project, Tanya Ravichandran took a trip to a neighborhood located in San Francisco, California, known as the Tenderloin. This part of San Francisco is notoriously known for its high levels of homelessness, drug use, and low-income boroughs. Margot Kushel, the director of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations has stated that the number one cause of homelessness in these neighborhoods is due to people’s inability to pay the high rents that you can find in the Bay Area. Covid-19 has struck our cities, decimating the once happy, flourishing households, to result in extreme poverty and an increase in homelessness and higher risks of families becoming so as well (Kendall, 2020). With these photographs, Ravichandran explored the Tenderloin; as stated by Jonas, it is a district in San Francisco that has a poverty rate more than double the rate of other areas in San Francisco. To put the sad reality of the Tenderloin to number, this district houses over 30,000 homeless individuals, and amid the pandemic, these numbers continue to exponentially rise (Baber, 2014).

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Creative project Covid-19 has impacted each one of us differently based on our own circumstances and experiences. Some of us hold more privilege than others, which has caused the pandemic to be a social problem to us rather than one based on survival. For example, many of us come from families that are middle class, with parents who have jobs that permit them to work from home; this has allowed us to continue to have a steady source of income. With a continued source of income, the impacts of the pandemic have not caused problems based on resources but rather social issues: not having the ability to see your friends as often, or not coming back to school in fear of further spreading the virus. The societal impact on many of us is nothing compared to the impacts on resources many people in the Tenderloin have faced. As stated before, many people in this district are low income or homeless, with those who are still employed holding labor jobs that cannot be accomplished from their homes. Due to this, many people have lost their jobs, which has caused a surge in unemployment and homelessness; leaving many hungry and without shelter. With these images that Ravichandran captured, she wanted to shed light on these individuals and the district, to highlight trends and occurrences of how they are handling the pandemic.

Tenderloin, San Francisco, California Ravichandran went to San Francisco, California, a city with increased levels of homelessness and drug use, to capture the struggles people and the city have faced amid the pandemic. The virus has caused unsheltered homelessness to go up even more. As stated by Margot Kushel, the director

Pandemic vs Lower Income Neighborhoods in San Francisco 59


of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations, the majority of the homeless population lost their home due to their inability to pay the high rent in the San Francisco, Bay Area. With the rise of Covid-19, many labor workers, an industry that can not be worked from home, are losing their jobs. Due to this, there has been an increase in homelessness and a higher risk of families in the Bay Area becoming so as well (Kendall, 2020). With her project, Ravichandran hopes to explore the Tenderloin, a district in San Francisco, a district with a poverty rate that is more than double compared to the other districts in San Francisco (Jonas, 2017). To quantify, in 2014, the Tenderloin was home to over 30,000 homeless and ill residents, with numbers rising everyday amid the pandemic (Baber, 2014). She hopes to show viewers that Covid-19 has hit each one of us differently, but it is essential to recognize the struggles of those who are not privileged enough to have the resources to get through these times. Ravichandran wants to shed light on these individuals and the city, to highlight how they are pushing through life, while going through loss of their jobs, lack of shelter, while also being cautious of spreading the virus. Additionally, the Tenderloin is notorious for being one of the most unsafe places in San Francisco.

The Need for Community The photo to the right shows a group of homeless men selling miscellaneous objects at the corner of the street: jewelry, cigarettes, clothing, lighters and more. When Ravichandran approached them, she had asked if she could take a photo of

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Regardless of social distancing or the requirement to wear masks during the pandemic, a sense of community motivates these homeless men to remain positive. Human interaction brings them together, despite not having shelter or much money.

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them for $1. At the sight of the dollar bill, their eyes widened in joy and were glad to have her take as many images as she wanted of them. One dollar is what any of us would take for granted and spend on candy or gum. One dollar to them was one step closer to an opportunity to get out of the situation they are in. After Ravichandran gave each one of the men a dollar bill, she told them to continue to interact with each other as if she was not there, so she could capture candid images of them. As Ravichandran went around them, photographing them at different angles, she observed how they interacted with each other and their sentiments around their everyday lives. Something Ravichandran noticed was that what keeps them happy and fueled is their sense of community. Regardless if they did not have a shelter or much money, being together is what motivates them to stay positive during these hard times. Regardless of social distancing or the requirement to wear masks, human interaction is what makes life worth living. Human interaction is what helps them get through their days, no matter how hungry or cold they are. A technique Ravichandran used in this photo was utilizing a shallow depth of field. Ravichandran wanted to be able to highlight the sense of community in the image, so in order to do so, she needed to capture multiple subjects in the singular image. These men were not standing close to each other as they were somewhat social distancing, so they were all located on various “planes.” In order to depict that they were still close together and interacting with each other, she increased her aperture to a higher value so their background was not as blurred. When doing so, she brought detail into the elements in the background, which

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helped highlight the sense of community among these people. With this increase in detail, you can also see how they still wear masks when they interact with each other. If Ravichandran had a strong depth of field, all these elements that add to the story of community and resilience through the pandemic would not be as powerful. This image is also a prime example of a concept of “antiquing reality.” Susan Sontag was the first to coin this term, in her book On Photography, she states that when you capture an image, you create a ruin that represents the history of the present of its creation. This photograph is an antique to the reality of the pandemic of how humans have had to adapt to modern times. It depicts the idea of human conditioning to constantly want interaction, while being cautious of spreading the virus among their community. Something that stood out to Ravichandran was the colorful jacket the main subject was wearing in the image. His overall appearance was very put together and he had an immaculate sense of style. This is an aspect Ravichandran was able to highlight when post-processing the image. When Ravichandran placed the image in Photoshop, she increased the saturation on his jacket, and solely his jacket, to provide a greater focal point to his fashion. The majority of the image has a washed out, green and gold tone, with a splash of vibrant color at the man’s jacket. The man had told Ravichandran that he tries to dress as best as he can, as getting ready is what helps motivate him to continue his day. The use of exemplifying the vibrant colors on his jacket drives this point. A pop of color to a washed out image, makes the viewer question the photographer’s

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choice to highlight the dramatic change in tone; this helps them understand the possible story behind the image. As a photographer, we bring life to still images which we leave the viewer up to interpret. By providing a hint to a possible story—the sudden splash of color—the viewer is able to bring the pieces of the puzzle together to understand the overall narrative.

Hidden Stories Beneath the City The photograph on the right shows two murals: one on the side of a newspaper dispenser and another on a wall, surrounded by garbage and a man sleeping with blankets below it. Among the art that covers the streets of the Tenderloin, lies the grim reality of the impacts the pandemic has caused on homelessness. Oftentimes when people think of San Francisco, they picture colorful streets and everyone’s acceptance into society. This is not the reality for everyone, and this unrealistic blissful picture leaves out those who have been negatively affected by both the coronavirus and the high cost of living in the Bay Area. It is important to include people like this man into the conversation when we talk about how San Francisco is. When we romanticize the city, we aid in the erasure of the discussion of the increasing wealth gap that worsens every day. With this image, Ravichandran is helping to bring light to this reality and show that the pandemic is worse than we had gaged it to be. When capturing this image, Ravichandran originally wanted to focus on the man lying in the street, as he was the center of the story: behind the struggle amidst the pandemic.

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Beautiful murals alongside a sleeping homeless man blur the lines between a fantasized version of San Francisco and the grim aftermath of the pandemic on its people.

But as Ravichandran was taking photos with her film camera, she realized there was a broader story that revolved around the idea that there is a stark difference between the way we have experienced the pandemic and those who are less fortunate have. This is where she decided to experiment with focus: bringing focus to multiple objects to aid in the intended storytelling. This image not only depicts the struggles the man has, but also how the fantasized version of San Francisco, that many hold in their heads, is not an accurate representation of the reality that many face. By showing the beautiful art amongst struggle, by highlighting both the man and the murals, Ravichandran has blurred the lines between the beauty of San Francisco and the grim aftermath of the pandemic on its people.

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The composition of the image is divided into three planes: the foreground (the mural at front on the newspaper stand), the main subject (the man and his belongings on the ground), and the background (the mural behind the man). The inclusion of all three elements is what carries the storytelling of the line between fanticisation and reality of the city. If Ravichandran was to capture the same image without the mural in the front, it would not be as strong as it would solely depict San Francisco streets with a man sleeping. The use of composition to include the mural in front of the newspaper box is an addition to the story; newspaper boxes are mundane objects that we see in cities, and in San Francisco, they are often decorated. On social media, Ravichandran has seen many people pose in front of these boxes and large mural walls, both which are normal objects which are utilized by these individuals as a prop to their image to gain likes of their romanticised view of the city. By being a photographer, the transcriber of the mundane, Ravichandran has shown how there is meaning to a newspaper box and a wall with a mural on it beyond its existence: the beauty of San Francisco amidst the reality.

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Conclusion The images shown were captured on a Canon analog camera with Kodak Portra 400 film. Shooting film, or analog, is the purest way to capture reality. As someone who has tried both analog and digital cameras, Ravichandran has found that the best way to antique the reality of a moment and the subjects in it, is through an analog camera. This is because every image captured on an analog camera is unique as the light reacts with the film sensor differently each time. The image is the purest form of the exact moment you captured it at. With the advent of digital photography and its rise around 2001, digital photography allowed us to take instant photos, which was considered a disaster as it fueled humanities’ need to constantly take instant images that defeats the whole point of “documentary culture” (Stubblefield, 2015). With digital cameras, we now have the ability to capture as many images we want, at all times, not being as aware of the reality we are capturing. Ravichandran agrees with this statement as the rise of digital photography has led to the fall of photography as a true art form. As artists, you should be following your work from start to the finish and have the ability to only manipulate elements from the transmission of the photograph to it being a print on the wall. With analog photography, you have the ability to do so, which promotes the idea of photography as a pure art form. With digital photography, there is no post-development process other than the use of photo manipulation software such as Photoshop. By bringing meaning out of the mundane, we can help restore the artistry that digital photography lacks.

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References Baber, Z. (2014). From Tenderloin to Tandoorloin: The notorious Tenderloin area of San Francisco, home to over 30,000 of America’s poor, has a vibrant South Asian connection. Economic and Political Weekly, ??49(?46), 76-77. Retrieved October 15, 2020, from http://www.jstor. org/stable/24480963 Jonas, A. (2017). ?Neighborhoods in Transition: Insights from U.S. Strategies for Integrated Urban Planning?. German Marshall Fund of the United States, 17-21. Retrieved October 15, 2020, from ?http://www.jstor.org/ stable/resrep19008.8 Kendall, M. (2020, October). How coronavirus is changing the Bay Area’s homelessness crisis. Retrieved October 18, 2020, from https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/10/11/ how-coronavirus-changed-the-bay-areas-homelessnesscrisis/ Sontag, S. (1977). On Photography. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Stubblefield, T. (2015). 9/11 and the Visual Culture of Disaster. Indiana University Press.

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Wine Packaging: The Effects of Product Design and Packaging on Consumer Response Ivan Cornejo-Martinez



Abstract This study and report will focus on the drivers and holistic assets and benefits associated with packaging wine in aluminum cans and glass bottling. The wine industry is quite competitive in its production and manufacturing of wine (Newton, 2015). Winemakers often obsess over minuscule details in their winemaking process as they attempt to create the perfect wine that expresses their unique style. With how time-consuming it is to analyze soil, give care to their grapes, while also experimenting to create a flawless blend of wine, this can simply go out the window without the proper creativity behind their labeling, wine bottling, and overall brand (Gustafson, 2018). Brand communication involves several verbal, auditory and non-verbal images, to capture and retain the consumers’ attention for future purchases. Product design focuses on just that. With the proper implementation and market research, wineries can use their primary packaging as a form of communication vehicle for their consumers. A wine label and packaging must grab the attention, spark intrigue, communicate a range of important messages, and drive consumer retention. The challenges that face the wine industry are its longevity based around centuries of tradition in the production, manufacturing, and bottling that has seen very little to no change. While it could be seen as a stagnant industry, when it comes to its packaging, recently wineries are beginning to expand their packaging into aluminum cans. This is being done for a few reasons: its accessibility of stackability,

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longevity in shelf life, and its recyclable components, as well as meeting demands of the young adult markets, who are becoming more prominent consumers (Williams, 2019). Therefore, the use of project design in the wine industry is pivotal in retaining customers, but also adapting to the change of demographics in the industry. With the industry moving towards younger adults, wineries must create packaging and labeling that resonates with the younger consumer (Kell, 2019). Wineries need to hone in on their target consumers and express the story behind their brand, what is unique about their wine over their competition, but most importantly resonate with their consumers. Whether they use their brand image, heritage, story, or value, it is all important to express not just through their wine, but through their label and brand. The implementation of product packaging and design is crucial.

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Introduction Humans have been consuming wine for thousands of years. Its consumption has spread through the earliest of times through trade, barter, religious missions, and colonization. Its use and consumption can be read about from the early days of the Roman and Greek empires and for religious purposes in the Roman Catholic church, among other religions (Malin, 2014). However, none of that would be possible without asking the question: how did wine get from one place to another? The purpose of this literature review will be to explore the nature and history of wine packaging and how it has evolved throughout the years. It will discuss topics from the manufacturing of today’s wine bottles to new packaging methods being implemented and utilized. Most importantly, we will see how the industry is adapting and developing new methods of packaging to meet the demand for sustainable practices in growing and packaging. The wine industry’s history has been a relatively stagnant industry in terms of its packaging. Recently, the industry has been moving to the adaptation of a new method of packaging in order to meet the demand for sustainability, longevity of shelf life, and recyclability. That adaptive method is the use of aluminum cans (Todorov, 2020).

History of Wine Packaging Over time, the containers used to transport wine have changed, as have the production and transport of winemaking. The Romans popularized the use of wooden wine barrels as early as 3rd century AD. These were the containers used

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by the Roman army and most merchants (Wines, 2017). This method of wine transportation allowed for wide expansion and accessibility throughout the Roman Empire, Europe, and eventually worldwide. Glass bottles for wine began to be used in the 17th century. These bottles were blown into different shapes and sizes. By the 1820s, the glass wine bottle we know today were produced (Wines, 2017). These bottles required stoppers, or corks, but were found to be ideal for wine storage and transportation in smaller packaging. Advances in glassmaking over time allowed for the manufacturing and production of thicker, sturdier glass bottles (Malin, 2014). Currently, aluminum cans are the newest emerging method of wine packaging. With younger demographics coming of age, wineries and vineyards are adapting to their demands. Consumers are becoming more eco-conscious and paying attention to how their products are packaged. Wine is no different. Aluminum cans, made from recycled aluminum, allow for a substantially lower carbon footprint and easier recyclability compared to the current glass packaging (Quackenbush, 2019).

The Wine Industry In 2018, we saw a change in the U.S. wine industry. After experiencing 24 years of continuous growth in wine consumption, the market slowed down by 1.2% in volume (Thach, 2019). While this mere slowdown is quite small compared to other beverage industries, it is not something to overlook. As time passes millennial and Generation Z

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are beginning to dive into the world of wines. These new consumers have higher expectations and demand: better quality wine, innovation in packaging and growing methods, and eco-friendliness. These factors play a key role in how wineries move forward with developing and adapting to consumer needs. While this could be challenging, the wine industry as a whole has little to worry about. The U.S. still remains the largest wine consuming country in the world, and is therefore an ideal target for foreign wineries and vineyards (Thach, 2019). This presents the industry with potential growth, but some risk as well. As the younger generation is becoming more aware of product packaging, wineries will need to adapt to how they package their wine, with attention to eco-friendlier packaging, but also the use of graphic design, technology, and marketing. It is important for wineries to observe and develop their packaging around the top varietals of wine in the U.S. According to Nielsen & WPM, in the top five varietals, there are three red wines and two white wines. Wineries can adapt their future packaging to meet the needs of each varietal.

Aluminum Can Trend One major trend that has picked up in the past few years, and is here to stay, is the aluminum can package (Higgins, 2018). Many thought this trend would fizzle out and go away after a year or two, however, it has become popular among millennial and Gen Z populations. With the growing awareness of the global climate crisis and the need to become more environmentally friendly, wine companies are

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introducing new eco-friendly, biodegradable, and sustainable packaging for their products.

Why Aluminum Cans? Consumers enjoy packaging when it’s convenient and easy. Canned wine is a great ready to drink option, as there is no need for a wine glass. Their portability allows them to go just about anywhere, and with a proper cooler, they can be kept cold for long periods of time, as opposed to bottled wine (Williams, 2019). Young adult consumers love aluminum cans because they can take them anywhere: hiking, the beach, and everywhere glass cannot go (Weed, 2019).

Sales of Aluminum wine cans in the U.S. According to Marketwatch, the application of canned wine in production and market share has grown in the previous three years. In 2017 canned wine sales totaled $23.3 million, up from $14.5 million in 2016 and $6.4 million in 2015 (Higgins, 2018). Although sales may have been slow at first, a 54% increase in growth is significant for a product that many thought wouldn’t be well-received (Higgins, 2018). Though, canned wine still only accounts for a small fraction of the market, at only about 1 percent. But winemakers and wineries cannot disregard the tremendous growth seen over the past 3 years (Quackenbush, 2019).

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Manufacturing of Wine Packaging Wine is packaged in a variety of materials: glass, clay, aluminum, corrugated board, plastics, and more, but commercially, the top three packaging methods are glass, aluminum, and corrugated boxes (Reeves, 2009). Each method has a different manufacturing process to contain, transport, and deliver wine. In this paper, we will look at the manufacturing processes of glass wine bottles and aluminum wine cans.

Glass Wine Bottle Since the 17th century, glass has been the leading material used in the packaging of wines globally. Since tradition is highly rooted in the wine industry, taking part from its production and winemaking, wineries prefer to use glass as its main material (Wines, 2017). Glass offers excellent barrier properties and is ideal for longevity, which allows for wine to be aged and stored for substantial amounts of time. It is an ideal carrying vessel for its ability to keep moisture, UV lights, and oxygen out of the bottle itself, with a proper cork and seal. If any of these elements were to penetrate the wine for an extended period of time, the wine could potentially be ruined (Reeves, 2009).

Manufacturing of Glass Bottles Glass wine bottles are manufactured through the “blow and blow” process, a “settle blow” processing method. The gob is delivered into the mold; air is then delivered from the top of the blank mold to force the gob all the way to the

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bottom of the mold. Air is then blown in through the bottom of the mold, forcing the glass into the shape of the parison (California Polytechnic University, 2019). This process is used widely in the manufacturing of wine bottles due to its cost effectiveness, ability to be mass produced, and rigid and strength characteristics.

Aluminum Wine Can The 2016–2017 trend of canned wine has become an asset to the wine industry. From initially experiencing major set-backs in the acceptance of packaging, from all corners of the industry, to becoming a major asset in wine packaging (Cain, 2019). Aluminum cans are here to stay and wineries are finding unique ways to improve them and use them to their full potential. This form of packaging is mainly used for single-use white and sparkling wines. Aluminum has a high level of impact resistance and durability, among all other materials used in wine packaging (Manufacturer, 2019). Similar to glass packaging, aluminum cans are fully enclosed and have a pressurized seal for little to no oxygen penetration and no effect from UV light on the wine.

Manufacturing of Aluminum Cans The manufacturing process for aluminum wine cans are produced with the Two Piece Drawn and Wall Iron process. In the Draw and Iron Process, the drawn cup passes through a series of ironing rings, each subsequent ring has a decreasing diameter, which reduces the wall thickness (California Polytechnic University, 2019). This process is used for soda cans and any other aluminum style of cans. One downside to this method is the wall’s thickness being reduced as it

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is stamped to raise the aluminum and is strongly secured at the top.

Wine Packaging Labeling A winemaker’s story and heritage can be difficult to express through a standard label or packaging. The true test of winemaking encompasses the wine itself, but its labeling is just as important. A standard wine label has little to no effect in capturing a consumer’s attention and convincing a shopper to purchase the wine. A consumer who is not experienced in wine will choose a wine that they are familiar with or will gravitate towards a bottle with a unique and exciting label, from a winery that is new to them (Gustafson, 2018). For this reason, winemakers must develop a unique label that encompasses color, fonts, and graphics. Special finishes to wine labels draws consumer attention and brings a winemakers’ wine to life. Unlike a well thought out label, a standard label would be simple, boring, and potentially a sore sight to see. The label information required by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, mandates four main elements: Appellation of Origin, Brand Name, Class or Type of Designation, and the Percentage of Foreign Wines (Treasury, 2020). Through the use of diverse labeling materials, manufacturers can add gold and silver finishes that allow for a better contrast of colors and softening of the elements. By adding embossing detail, consumers have a strong reason to engage with a wine (Gustafson, 2018). The best way to capture a consumer’s attention is not in text, but by visuals,

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and by producing a developed label that encompasses the correct typography, colors, and graphics. This makes the difference between a consumer choosing your product or not. Even if consumers do not know about a particular wine, they will still gravitate towards a wine label that catches their eye (Gallo, 2015).

Standing Out from the Crowd In addition to grabbing a consumer’s attention, the packaging and labeling of wine must convey a certain message, show differentiation from competitors, and have a unique and distinct personality (Corporation, 2015). According to a report by Nielsen Corporation, a leading and worldwide global marketing research firm, in 2014 over 4,200 new wines were introduced to market, which represented 12.5% of the category item (Corporation, 2015). Their report went on to state that a majority of consumers are making their decisions at shelf, packaging design aids distribution, and labeling wins over retail wine buyers. The report demonstrates just how competitive the wine industry is and the tremendous growth and quantity of wines being introduced on a yearly basis. Another important aspect is shelf buying. If consumers are making a majority of their purchases at the shelf, it is of the utmost importance then for wine companies to develop a unique label. In 2015, E&J Gallo Winery conducted a Wine Trends survey to observe the purchasing methods of millennials who were coming of drinking age. It found that 42% of all wine consumed in the United States was by millennials, and they are four times more likely than baby boomers to buy a

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wine based on the label (Gallo, 2015). The studies from E&J Gallo and Nielsen Corporation both show how important the wine label has become. Wineries must adapt to using these labels as effectively as they have used their packaging container for wine.

Lone Cypress Wine Study The study of this paper, conducted from April 2020–June 2020, surveyed wine consumers to observe if the aluminum can trend is truly the future of wine packaging. The participants of the study were all from demographics above the age of 21. Through the research conducted in this paper, Ivan Cornejo-Martinez sought to prove that aluminum wine sales are driven predominantly from the millennial generation and that aluminum cans are becoming widely accepted as a primary packaging for wine. For this research, Cornejo-Martinez’s team developed and produced a fictitious wine brand from Monterey County, with both glass and aluminum as their primary packaging. They also developed a balanced labeling for the front and rear, that they believed would resonate with consumers and be appealing to the eyes. During the mock labeling and packaging they developed a white and red wine. As previously mentioned, two of the top five wines are Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the United States. This is especially true to the Monterey County area, as it is known as one of the best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay growing climates in the Western United States and California (County, 2020).

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With the integration of both primary packages and labeling, the survey asked to compare both packages to one another, as well as provide input on which would be the preferred beverage to consume. Cornejo-Martinez expected that for the option of Chardonnay, the majority of individuals would gravitate towards aluminum due to its portability and Chardonnay being a summer wine, so it could keep wine cold without a cooler. With the red wine, Cornejo-Martinez expected to see mixed results, as red wine is considered to be a more refined style of varietal and the perception of aging is emphasized.

Lone Cypress Primary Packaging With the study focusing on the primary trend of aluminum wine cans compared to the traditional glass wine bottle, they developed both the labeling and primary packaging for the two methods of packaging. Figures 1 and 2 show mockups of both varieties of wine packed in wine glass bottles. The following Figures 3 and 4 show the primary packaging mockups for aluminum cans. Their survey developed questions that compared both primary packaging for the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir side by side and asked participants to choose either glass or aluminum for Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. Additional questions asked participants to choose which method of packaging they would prefer for each varietal, whether it be glass or aluminum. The focus was to seek insight on which method of packaging consumers are driven towards and if the labeling of the wine played a key focus in the decision or purchasing, or if it was solely the packaging.

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Figure 1: Lone Cypress Chardonnay

Figure 2: Lone Cypress Pinot Noir

Lone Cypress Wine Labeling With the labeling they decided to go for a 1920s style of typography to pay homage to the local attraction and Pebble Beach’s famous Lone Cypress tree. It has stood since the early 19th century and continues to be an attraction of the Monterey Peninsula. Since the wine is sold as a Monterey County wine, 1920s style combines the style of Cannery Row and the county with contrast between the black, silver, and white. While also adding a touch of color for each varietal that catches the eye. Cornejo-Martinez and his team also developed a back label that fosters and encourages consumers to learn more about the wine. It helps provide insight into the taste, complexity, acidity of the wine, and includes food pairings. Cornejo-Martinez’s label encourages consumers to express themselves by using hashtags and social media

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Figure 3: Lone Cypress Chardonnay , aluminum can

Figure 4: Lone Cypress Pinot Noir, aluminum can

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to showcase the product. They also added a sustainability certification to demonstrate their desire to continue a sustainable approach in growing, producing, and using recyclable packaging methods.

Lone Cypress Case Study During the two month time span of surveying, wine consumers used Google Surveys. The distribution of the survey was done through the social media platforms of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and school application networks at San Jose State University, California Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo, and Cornell University. The targeted demographics were both millennial and Gen Z consumers, but also baby boomers. When the survey was closed on June 1st, 2020, it contained input from 122 individuals.

Survey Demographics While conducting the survey, the team focused their input on millennials and Generation Z. This was to determine if aluminum cans were a trend for younger generations, or if baby boomers were also enjoying the packaging option. In Figures 5 and 6, they evaluated the results and separated the participants in age groups and gender. The reasoning for this was to observe the age gap between millennials, Generation Z, and baby boomers. Also, it was a way to observe if there is any correlation to men or women drinking more wine in their age group. In their initial findings, they observed that out of the 122 consumers, 11 men,

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Gender Demographics

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Prefer not to say

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Figure 5: Gender demographics, Lone Cypress wine survey

Age Demographics Under 21

Age Group

Over 55 45–55 35–44 27–34 22–26 0

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Figure 6: Age demographics, Lone Cypress wine survey

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Figure 7: Age group purchasing evaluation of wine in a can

Percentage of Individuals Purchasing Wine In a Can

Female, Yes 17, 24%

49, 68%

Female, No Female, Maybe

3, 4% 1, 1% 2, 3%

Male, Yes Male, No

Figure 8: Percentage of wine can purchases by gender

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115 women, and one individual who chose not to identify their gender participated. Ivan and his team expected more women to submit their input, but not at the proportion that they received. The team was pleased to see that their survey resonated with the targeted age demographic. In the 22–26 year old age group, they counted 72 individuals, and in the 27–34 year old group, they counted 37 individuals. Although the number of participants in the baby boomer group was not substantial, they were pleased to see their targeted demographic age group composed the majority of the survey.

Purchasing of Wine in a Can Figure 7 evaluates whether or not individuals have purchased wine in a can before— divided by their age group. To the team’s surprise, many participants in the millennial and Gen Z age group had never purchased wine in a can. This was surprising as the team’s previous research indicated that millennials and Gen Z are the driving force for the aluminum can trend. They expected to see a much higher percentage of individuals in the age group of 22–26 and 27–34 years old to have purchased wine in a can. Figure 8 shows the data in a percentage per gender and if they have purchased wine in a can. The overall percentage of 71% across all age groups and gender was not what they had expected. The results demonstrate that the marketing and trend of wine in aluminum cans was not as popular as originally expected.

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Wine Packaging Preferences: Glass or Aluminum? Cornejo-Martinez and his team also evaluated the purchasing decisions for both glass and aluminum packaging for wine. This study was based on their fictitious wine brand. The data shows that 71% of all age groups have never purchased wine in a can, but does the percentage change if given two choices of packaging methods side by side? They developed the survey to compare two methods of packaging, aluminum and glass. They asked questions with regards to each format and its varietal, in this case Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Chardonnay Lone Cypress Packaging: Glass or Aluminum? Since Chardonnay is a white wine and predominantly drunk cold, they expected to see consumers gravitate towards the aluminum can because of its ability to keep drinks cold. The survey presented the Lone Cypress packaging for Chardonnay as seen in Figures 1 and 3 and consumers were asked which method of packaging they would consider purchasing as first-time buyers. Their choices were glass, aluminum, or neither for Chardonnay. When evaluating the packaging method for the Lone Cypress Chardonnay they discovered that 51% of their consumers would prefer the glass packaging over the aluminum packaging. With only 40% preferring the aluminum packaging and 9% having no preference of either or. When diving into age groups, they discovered that their targeted demographic of millennials and Gen Z were open to the idea of aluminum packaging, but as the age groups got older in

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Chardonnay Consumer Preferences

Neither

11, 9%

Aluminum 51, 40%

Glass

65, 51%

Neither

Chardonnay Consumer Preferences 35–44 years old 27–34 years old 22–26 years old

45–54 years old Glass

Age Group

Over 55 years old

35–44 years old 27–34 years old

Aluminum

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Figure 9 & 10: Chardonnay Lone Cypress packaging preference

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Pinot Noir Consumer Preferences

Neither 17, 13%

Aluminum

38, 30%

Glass 72, 57%

35–44 years old 27–34 years old 22–26 years old Over 55 years old

Glass

Age Group

Neither

Pinot Noir Consumer Preferences

35–44 years old 27–34 years old

Aluminum

22–26 years old 45–54 years old 35–44 years old 27–34 years old 22–26 years old 0

5

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Figure 11 & 12: Pinot Noir Lone Cypress packaging preferences

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age, they found that glass is preferred over aluminum. The 22–26 year-old group had the preference of aluminum which aligns with the research and trends.

Pinot Noir Lone Cypress Packaging: Glass or Aluminum? Similar to the Chardonnay packaging, the Pinot Noir packaging was presented to the consumers in the glass and aluminum method as seen in Figures 2 and 4. With Pinot Noir, they expected to see a drastic preference shift from aluminum packaging to predominantly glass packaging. The reasoning for this was the perception of aged red wine having a more sophisticated taste and flavor. When presented with both methods of packaging, consumers were asked to choose between glass, aluminum, or neither as first-time buyers of the fictitious wine. With the evaluation of the data from the packaging method for Pinot Noir, they found a few intriguing statistics and findings. The targeted demographic age group of 22–26 years old had a significant preference towards glass compared to aluminum packaging. What was surprising was how many individuals chose neither in the packaging methods. This could be due to the wine itself or simply having no preference when choosing a Pinot Noir or its packaging method. The team did expect to have a predominant preference in glass packaging over aluminum for red wine, but to see almost a 75% preference shows that red wine has a successful road ahead in terms of being accepted when in aluminum packaging.

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Results and Conclusion While analyzing the data, the team seemed to prove the hypothesis that millennials and Gen Z gravitate towards aluminum packaging for wine. With regards to Chardonnay, aluminum picks up traction as a preferred method of wine packaging. For Chardonnay, the preference of packaging materials is close to 50–50 on aluminum and glass. This shows that millennials and Gen Z are changing the demand for other packaging options. As for the Pinot Noir data, they found the opposite for packaging materials. All age groups prefer glass packaging over aluminum. The survey failed to assess why consumers prefer glass over aluminum for red wine. This could be a focus point in further studies in evaluating packaging materials and methods for wine. This survey evaluated the significance of future packaging methods in the wine industry. A trend in aluminum packaging was shown to have a correlation between millennial and Gen Z buyers, however the survey also showed that glass packaging remains the main preference for all age groups

Suggested Further Research With the observations and data analysis, there is a correlation between the trend of aluminum wine packaging and millennial and Gen Z consumers. The team suggests to expand on this data by adding questions regarding sustainability and eco-friendly packaging. This could help understand why younger demographics are moving towards the purchase of aluminum canned wine.

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The input received was predominantly from women, which is not to say the results were skewed or biased, but having a more balanced ratio of men and women could bring new insights into the preferred method of wine packaging. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantines, the study was conducted solely through online distribution. The opportunity to present live mockups of the fictitious wine brand and in-person evaluations would have enhanced the survey. The physical qualities of the packaging could play a key factor in purchasing a product With in-person surveying and live mockups, the team could also test the branding and appeal of the labeling. The trend survey conducted by E & J Gallo showed consumers are making purchase decisions in person, at the point of sale. The team could expand the survey by conducting a live in-person lineup of different wines packaged in both glass and aluminum, side by side. This form of surveying could expand their insight into the appeal of labeling, at point of sale purchasing, and the comparison of their product to others on the market. The survey only used two varietals of wine which could have skewed some results. Some individuals may prefer different white and red varietals than the ones included in the survey. If they observed multiple varietals for both white and red, they could see a difference in preference for both aluminum and glass packaging. With more varietal choices, they could potentially see aluminum rising in packaging methods for white wines.

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References Becca. (2014, July). The History of Wine Containers: Featuring Guest Writer Emily Kate. Retrieved from Academic Wino: http://www.academicwino.com/2014/07/ history-of-wine containers.html/ Cain, S. (2019). Canned vs. Bottled: Which Type of Wine Is More Sustainable? New York : Fortune. California Polytechnic University, S. L. (2019). Glass and Metal Packaging . In G. S532, Glass and Metal Packaging (p. 19). San Luis Obispo: Cal. Poly. Corporation, N. (2015). Design Audit Report: Wine. New York: Nielsen Corporation. County, M. W. (2020, January). Chardonnay & Pinot Noir . Retrieved from Monterey County Vintners & Growers : https://montereywines.org/about/wines/ chardonnay-pinot-noir/ Edwards, J. F. (2016, January). Lesson 5: Metal Containers. Retrieved from Slide Player: https://slideplayer.com/ slide/5954178/ Gallo, E. &. (2015). Wine Trend Survey. Modesto: E & J Gallo. Gustafson, C. S. (2018, May). Wine Packaging: Making the Packaging as Unique as the Wine. Retrieved from Wine Industry Network: https://wineindustryadvisor. com/2018/05/01/wine-packaging unique-as-the-wine

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Higgins, J. (2018, March). Canned Wine Comes Into Its Own. Retrieved from Marketwatch : http://marketwatchmag. com/canned-wine-comes-into-its-own/ Kell, J. (2019, June 29). How Millennials’ Wine Preference Differ From Boomers. Retrieved from Fortune: https:// fortune.com/2019/06/29/millennials-wine-boomers/ Lin, D. (2020, February). Packaging of The World. Retrieved from Vandra Wines: https://www.packagingoftheworld. com/2020/02/vandra-wine.html Malin, J. (2014, March). The 8,000 Year Effort to Transport Wine Around the World. Retrieved from Vinepair: https://vinepair.com/wine-blog/ history-wine-transport-8000-years/ Manufacturer, A. L. (2019, January). How to Make Wine Packaging That Can Attract More Customers. Retrieved from ALPPM - Plastic Packaging: https://www.alppm.com/ packaging-boxes-for-wines/ Quackenbush, J. (2019, September). Wine in Cans Soars in Stores: Research hints at why it’s more than a millennial movement. Retrieved from North Bay Business Journal: https://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/northbay/ napacounty/10006181-181/wine-can business-packaging Reeves, M. J. (2009). Chapter 13: Packaging and the Shelf Life of Wine. In M. J. Reeves, Food Packaging and Shelf Life a Practical Guide (pp. 231-246). New Zealand : CRC Press .

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Newton, S. K. (2015). Wine Industry Competitiveness: . Rohnert Park : Sonoma State University. Thach, D. L. (2019, February). The U.S. Wine Industry in 2019 - Slowing but Steady, and Craving Innovation. Retrieved from Liz Thach, MW: https://lizthachmw.com/2019/02/03/ the-us-wine industry-in-2019-slowing-but-steady-andcraving-innovation/ Todorov, K. (2020, January). Wine Business Monthly. Retrieved from Larger Wineries Take a Chance on Aluminum Bottles: https://www.winebusiness.com/ wbm/?go=getArticleSignIn&dataId=223726 Treasury, U. D. (2020, January). Wine Labeling . Retrieved from TTB - Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau : https://www.ttb.gov/wine/labeling Weed, A. (2019, May). Canner Wine Comes of Age . Retrieved from Wine Spectator: https://www.winespectator.com/ articles/canned-wine-comes-of-age Williams, M. (2019, August). Is The Future of Wine In The Can? Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/ sites/michellewilliams/2019/08/28/is-the-future-of-winein-the can/#233b98c96cc3 Wines, G. (2017). A history of Wine Bottles. London: Garcon Wines.

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Tails Pet Boutique: Phoenix Challenge Phoenix Challenge Team

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Figure 1: Tails Pet Boutique signage

Meet the Client Who are they? Established in 1998, Tails Pet Boutique is a one-of-a-kind pet store located in the heart of downtown San Luis Obispo. The owners, Neal and Shelley, are lifelong animal lovers who wanted to create a place for pets that was more than just a store. Tails prides itself on its high quality products consisting of: food, treats, toys, and accessories which can’t be found in any big-box store. All of the food and treats are made in the United States and free from harmful or overly processed ingredients. Alongside these quality food products, Tails offers hand-made designer bakery treats, one

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Figure 2: Tails Pet Boutique storefront

of its most popular items. Aside from being a destination for pet food, toys, and accessories, Tails has cultivated customer service which cannot be matched. Every dog who visits the store is met with treats and belly-rubs. Employees at Tails are encouraged to bring their dog to work in order to interact with customers’ pets, or to get love from the visiting pet parents.

Why Tails? The Phoenix Challenge team decided to work with Tails because they wanted a client who would benefit from being rebranded. The owners of Tails had previously considered rebranding, but had not yet taken the leap. The team saw

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Figure 3: Phoenix Challenge team visiting Tails Pet Boutique

an opportunity to finally give them the rebrand they wanted and end Tails’ identity crisis, which stemmed from using multiple different logos at the same time. Aside from dedicating their time to a challenging rebrand that had the opportunity to make a big impact, the Phoenix Challenge team decided to work with Tails because of its unique market position. Flexography is most commonly used for food packaging, but the team wanted to explore a business that could combine the familiar with the unfamiliar. Working with a pet store gave them the opportunity to create unique packaging for edible products while exploring a new industry that the team hadn’t worked with before. These factors, combined with their own personal

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experiences with the business, made Tails the perfect brand to work with.

Market Research National and Local Demographics The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) reports that 38.4% of U.S. households own dogs, or approximately 48.3 million, and 25.4% of households own cats, or approximately 31.9 million. While the team’s research shows that there isn’t a definitive count for the number of pet owners in San Luis Obispo, using the formulas provided by the AVMA, they estimated the number of households owning pets in San Luis Obispo. According to the US Census, as of 2014, there are 105,317 households in San Luis Obispo County. Out of these families, approximately 40,000 of them own dogs, while approximately 26,700 own cats.

Customer Demographics According to the owners of Tails Pet Boutique, approximately half of their consumer base is made up of female consumers aged 45-60 years old. On a national level however, the biggest pet consumers tend to be Millennials (those aged 25-39) and Gen Z (those aged 18-24) consumers. A 2018 report on pet and market consumers by Packaged Facts, an American publisher of market studies on consumer products, found that Millennials made up one of the largest customer bases in the pet industry, with affluent Millennials contributing to 45% aggregate pet expenditures by households. However, this hasn’t been the case for long, as

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Millennials and Generation Z consumers have only recently begun to surpass the older generation of baby boomers. This discrepancy between what the owners believe, and the national average might be due to the location of the business. San Luis Obispo country has a higher number of baby boomers than the California average. Which would explain the higher number of older consumers that frequently visit Tails Pet Boutique. However, that does not mean Tails is completely isolated from other consumer groups. In addition to baby boomers, the city is also home to a large number of Millennials and Gen Z because of its proximity to a university campus, meaning Tails Pet Boutique could benefit from both markets.

Target Market Research With the team’s 3 packaging solutions, they aimed to target Millennials and Gen Z individuals, while still aiming to retain the current, older consumer base. Tails Pet Boutique has a great opportunity to expand its target market by appealing to Millennial shoppers’ characteristics and creating the high end pet product they are seeking. Especially in a large, college city, like San Luis Obispo, having this branded packaging for treats and gifts would improve brand awareness and recognition. There are several characteristics of Millennial consumers that are beneficial for Tails Pet Boutique. According to a 2018 report on pet and market consumers by Packaged Facts, millennial consumers care more about brand integrity and a company’s participation in pet welfare causes than their older counterparts do. And while these generations of

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Figure 4: Specialty dog treats at Tails

consumers are increasingly turning to online retailers and home delivery, studies show that brick and mortar stores still play a key role in the consumer behavior of 18-39 year old shoppers. Social Media also plays a key role in the purchases made by Millennial consumers. A vast majority, 90%, say they research products online or through social media before purchasing. Their attachment to social media and the Internet as information sources about potential pet product purchases far exceeds those of their Gen X or baby boomer counterparts. All of this information is beneficial, for the client, as they currently meet all these requirements. As a smaller family owned store, with a strong community and social media presence in the city, they are the ideal place to shop for the average millennial and Gen Z consumer.

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Millennial dog owners are much more likely than other generations to agree that pet food contamination and product safety is a key consideration in the foods, treats, and dog-chew products they buy. Two of the products the team developed will be in contact with food products. They researched the FDA guidelines regarding food packaging to ensure the printing does not interfere with the product that is being packaged.

Industry Research The global pet market was estimated to be around 131.7 billion in 2016 and is projected to reach 202.6 billion by 2026 (Grandview Research). Currently, the rate of pet ownership in the United States is stable and growing. The AVMA reports that 56% of all U.S. Households owned pets in 2011, and since 2016, that number has increased to 56.8%. This number includes approximately 77 million dogs and 58 million cats. A survey of 1000 pet owners by Opportunity Financial (OppLoans) found that American pet owners spend an average $126.19 on their pets every month, but the specific amounts tend to vary by state. This corroborates their research, showing pet owners are willing to spend a premium for higher quality pet products. The annual American Pet Products Association (APPA) found that the overall spending in the U.S. pet industry has increased 4.4% from 2017-2018, putting the total amount at 72.6 billion. Pet food is estimated to be the largest product segment, due to increasing demand for premium and organic food products.

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This demonstrates that the pet industry is still continuing to grow and is and will continue to be a viable market to create premium products and packaging for.

Breadth/Depth of Research Initial market and demographic research was gathered using research databases available to the team through the Cal Poly library. They tried to vary the sources from which they gathered information from and cross-referenced several different sources in order to get an idea of how accurate the sources were. They followed this up by turning to publicly accessible sources, like the demographic information from the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce and United States Census data, in order to gather more demographic information of the city Tails is located in. Finally, they rounded out their research by interviewing industry experts to gain insight on specific problems they faced throughout the process.

Industry Resources/Consults Design Consultation: Bruno Ribeiro To take advantage of their industry resources, the team spent the year consulting Professor Bruno Ribeiro about the design process. Professor Ribeiro is a former professor of Cal Poly’s Art and Design department and now teaches for the Graphic Communication department. He has years of experience working with real life clients and was invaluable guiding how the team designed with the client in mind. Professor Ribeiro helped the team’s designers craft moodboarding activities to kick off the design process

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and further instructed them on how to best present their ideas to gain valuable feedback from the owners of Tails. With his help, the team was able to bring the client into the design process every step of the way and allow them real input in the finished product. In addition to guiding the design process, Professor Ribeiro provided direct feedback on their designs and color choices, showing them potential improvements. As a result, they were able to design beautiful products and a new logo that the client couldn’t wait to start using.

Sustainability Consultation: Professor Ajay Kathuria The team interviewed Professor Ajay Kathuria of the Cal Poly Industrial Technology and Packaging Department. His suggestion for the treat container was to use the coated side as the interior. Recyclability of the container is greatly impacted by the amount of contamination. If the coated side of the substrate is on the inside, then it will help minimize staining from grease and crumbs. They found that even with uncoated paperboard, the pet treats leave very minimal staining, therefore it should not affect recyclability. Professor Kathuria also suggested using kraft paper in the long run to reduce Tails’ carbon footprint. For the gift box, Professor Kathuria stated that the recyclability of this product would be highly dependent on the coating. The material must be repulpable. For example, many polymer coatings would hinder recyclability because they can only be repulped under a specific pH. It would be beneficial to have a water soluble coating, such as EVOH

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Figure 5: Moodboard activity with Professor Ribeiro

and PVOH. Professor Kathuria also addressed the concern of ink coverage in terms of sustainability. He does not think that the amount of ink will hurt the recycling process, but the pigments will pollute the water stream when repulping, which has a potential long term impact on the environment. His overall advice is to reduce over recycling, as it is the best strategy to be environmentally sustainable. The shipping label that goes on the corrugated shipping boxes would affect sustainability, but would still go through the recycling process. Again, water based coating will be better for repulping process than UV coating, since the polymers are then crosslinked, which complicates the recycling process. The adhesive back liner would hinder

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Figure 6: Meeting with Mike di Milo and Jennifer Codron

recycling if it is wax coated, but should be unproblematic if it is just calendered paper.

Sustainability Consultation: Mike di Milo & Jennifer Codron The team contacted Mike di Milo, the recycling education program coordinator at the IWMA (Integrated Waste Management Authority) in order to learn more about the recycling process in the city of San Luis Obispo. The team’s research shows that all of the products would be commercially recyclable in San Luis Obispo County. Further considerations for future improved environmental impact are detailed below.

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The pastry container is a case by case situation on whether it will go through the recycling line, as the recycling facility handpicks recyclable materials off of a conveyor belt. The pastry container can be recycled only if there is minimal food contamination. To ensure that the containers go through the conveyor belt, it should be empty or flattened. Mike recommended using paper with recycled post-consumer content for the long run, as there is a high demand for recycled paper and it will be beneficial to marketing if the package can say “made with recycled paper.” The gift box uses a slightly thicker material than the treat container, but has a similar recyclability. According to Mike, the thickness has no effects on recyclability. The shipping label is a C1S calendered paper with hot melt rubber adhesive. The plan is to add a UV or water based coating to the labels to help with scratch/abrasive resistance during the transportation process. Mike addressed their concerns of the label adhesives affecting the recyclability of the corrugated shipping containers. Mike said that since the label takes up such a small surface area of the corrugated container, it will go through the recycling process and be baled up without issue.

Pain Points (Customer Needs) • Lack of consistent branding and logo • Lack of gift packaging • Blank pastry bags, shopping bags, and shipping boxes • Customer retention problems (only 50% sales are local) • Not enough word-of-mouth marketing

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Brainstorming/Initial Ideas After the initial meeting with the owners of Tails, the team determined that the primary pain point of the store was the lack of consistent branding. The owners identified the demands for various categories of products, and from there, the team brainstormed potential solutions to support the brand’s needs. Since Tails is a boutique shop that carries other brands and makes no product of their own, the main focus was on creating a bag/container to remind the customer of where they got their items. The team came up with these initial ideas: • Pastry bag • Branded labels • Shipping container • Gift box/bag • Shopping bags • Garment bags • Branded tape The commonality between the initial ideas was to promote the Tails brand through a consistent customer perception.

Market Demand Market Trends According to the American Pet Products Association (APPA), pet ownership has grown 12% over the last 30 years, with about 85 million households owning pets in 2018. Phillip Cooper, a pet industry expert, has stated that consumers no longer want the traditional options for their pets. Instead of

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Figure 7: Brainstorming with the team

traditional pet food, consumers are starting to seek options that are healthier, made-to-order, and with easier to understand ingredient lists. Consumers are willing to spend more if it means higher quality goods for their pets. There is also an increase in demand for other pet related services such as pet grooming, hotels, transportation, and even palliative services. These industry trends indicate that there is a rising market demand for specialty pet stores and premium pet products.

Product Trends At a 2018 Conference held in Austin, Texas called “Pets & Money,” a panel of 12 judges chose up-and-coming pet

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product companies to be highlighted at the show. The top picks included: DogTv, a TV streaming service for dogs, Grand PooBox, an automatic litter box, and PupJoy, a monthly subscription service for pet treats and toys. All of these products serve as good indicators that there is high demand in the pet industry for premium products.

Technical and Environmental Documentation (Considerations) There were many technical considerations which shaped the concept and design of the packages. All of the products were sized to best fit on the Graphic Communication department’s MarkAndy 2200 flexographic press. All dielines were constructed to fit within a 6.5’’ wide by 14’’ long press sheet. The press is technically a 7-inch wide narrow web press, but to allow room for bearer bars and other printers marks, they adjusted the dielines accordingly. Originally, the team wanted to use a thicker substrate for the gift box to add strength and a perception of quality. To account for the press capabilities, the team selected a modest 10pt SBS. This was the thickest substrate they could use without sacrificing print quality. The team prototyped and tested the design with this material to ensure it would still have adequate structural integrity. Since the press uses water-based flexo inks on all four color stations, they wanted to add a protective coating to increase the rub resistance of the labels. They chose to add a

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Figure 8: Grand PooBox automatic litter box

protective UV coating to these labels because they are more likely to experience wear and tear. The labels are intended to be used on shipping containers and shopping bags, which have a high chance of being scuffed, even though they are short-term use packages. To set themselves up for good execution, they created and ran their own test press sheet. Using a banded anilox roll, they tested different ink densities on different type sizes, fine line art, the client logo, and a placeholder pattern which used various tints. This sheet was tested on both substrates in the key spot colors required for each design. They used the results of these test press sheets to decide

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which anilox rollers would be most appropriate for each color on each product.

Environmental Considerations As Tails is a very local business, the team wanted to find out the recyclability of the materials they are using at the local recycling center. They contacted Mike di Milo, the coordinator of the recycling education program at IWMA (Integrated Waste Management Authority) to learn more about the recycling process in the city of San Luis Obispo. Their research shows that all of the products will be commercially recyclable in San Luis Obispo County. Further considerations for future improved environmental impact is detailed in the research section. The three products all use paper-based material. The treat container uses 8 pt. C1S

Innovation of Final Solution The innovation of the gift box is meant to satisfy a need that has been clearly communicated by customers. Tails’ owners noticed a high demand for gift boxes, especially during the holiday seasons, for customers who are in the market for pet gifts. The gift box design had to reflect the quality of those products while keeping consistent with their branding. The twist lock opening/ closure of the gift box elevates the unboxing experience and product value. The body of the gift box also has similar triangular shapes that make up the pastry bag structure, which maintains brand consistency. The current gift box design can hold small accessories such as dog collars or small play toys, but like most gift boxes, this design can be easily scaled up to larger sizes.

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Figure 9: Modification of the giftbox die

Figure 10: Team members mounting a magnetic die before a press run

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The innovation of the pastry container is meant to solve Tails’ current lack of branding problem. Tails currently, uses blank pastry bags (structured much like Starbucks’ pastry bags) to serve their pet treats and cupcakes. The owners have shared that their most sold items are the pet pastries, so the best way to advertise Tails is through these packages. The team decided to create a pastry container that is uniquely shaped and can be intuitively opened by the resealable tabs on the top. An added feature is that unlike the pastry bag, it is a stand-up container that can hold pet cupcakes without compromising the form of the cupcake. The container can be stored flat and constructed easily by employees as needed. The package was designed with an auto-lock bottom to avoid the use of tape or glue and to make assembly easier. The pastry container has triangular shapes that make up the structure. The inverted triangle face and the front face both serve as a good canvas for the branding and logo. Labels have many uses on a single sheet, as they are versatile, and fulfill needs despite technical limitations. The innovation of the label product is meant to be a cost efficient and practical solution. The sheet of labels is versatile and fulfills multiple needs despite technical limitations. The label sheet includes four different products, these being the: shipping box label, round logo sticker, small promotional stickers, and rectangular logo sticker. After the client expressed a desire to brand their shipping boxes, they decided that a shipping label was the best solution to work within their press limitations. In addition to the shipping label, they used space on the press sheet to create labels

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Figure 11: Final products

Figure 12: Tails branded reusable water bottle

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to brand store shopping bags and spread brand awareness. Finally, they used any additional space to create branded stickers which can be used as marketing collateral.

Graphic Design and Development The Original Brand While Tails’ company values are very clearly established, its original branding was underdeveloped in terms of style, color, and usage—resulting in a lack of consistency. This was primarily due to the fact that the company had two logos in use: one that was too intricate to reproduce, and another which clients felt did not represent the brand accurately. In effect, Tails had no consistent color palette, message, or logo. The shopping bags, shippers, pastry bags, and boxes that were given to customers were generic and unbranded.

Branding Effectiveness Tails’ new branding aims to balance the refined and high quality feel of the company with their warm and welcoming values. The new logo takes inspiration from vintage wood and metal signage, invoking the same wholesome, family friendly, and natural feelings as more well known brands like Burt’s Bees and Honest Co. They put animals at the center of the design and uses a darker color palette to establish a more trustworthy and mature brand. The graphics included on the packaging capture the playful and laid back feel of the Central Coast with bright colors and lively illustrations.

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Figure 13: Original logo and redesigned logo with secondary wordmark

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First Specifications • Minimal serif font • All lines above 0.25pt • Single color knockouts • Avoided gradients

Legal (FDA) Details: Materials and Labeling laws FDA Food Safety The FDA is in charge of regulating food and food additives in human food—pet food is held to the same standard. Due to this, pet food packaging is subject to the same regulatory requirements as human food packaging. In an article posted by Flint Group titled, “Food Packaging: A Guide to Best Practices for Print,” they state that inks and coatings that don’t have direct contact with food aren’t regulated as long as a functional barrier is in place. A functional barrier ensures that components of printing don’t migrate through the packaging to the food product. However, it’s also important that a suitable ink for food packaging is used. The article goes on to mention that solvent and water based inks are safe to use and haven’t raised an issue in the past when used for food products.

Nutrition Facts and Ingredients When researching the labeling laws for restaurant and retail food establishments, the team discovered that establishments are regulated by 21 CFR 101.11. A covered establishment is defined as a restaurant or retail food establishment that

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Figure 14: Tails dog treat in newly designed packaging

operates 20 or more locations, doing business under the same name and offers the same menu items. Since Tails is currently operating one single location, these labeling regulations do not apply. This means that nutrition facts and a list of ingredients are not required for any of the treats sold in the new pet treat packaging. However, any prepackaged food items sold in the store will need to follow FDA requirements (Bakery Labels and Stickers, 2019).

Managing Colors During the design process, the team looked at their ink draw-downs to get a better sense of how the colors were

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printing on the substrates. They changed some of the tint percentages in their designs to compensate for dot gain. This allows for the colors seen on their screens to be translated properly in print, the way they intended for them to look. Before they could complete trapping for each of the products, they had to clean up small gaps in the artwork that would cause issues further along in the process. After this was complete, they used the Esko program to complete a 5000th trap for all of the artwork. After completing a fingerprint test run, the team used the results to determine how much dot gain there was on press for each of the substrates and colors. The team then used this information to help create accurate curves to compensate for this dot gain, and ended up using a 5% bump curve at 150 line screen on a round top dot plate.

Product Description and Goal Gift Box The owners at Tails told the team that one of their most frequently requested items was a gift box, especially during holiday seasons. They wanted to create a box that employees could assemble quickly and easily, and would also help showcase the brand during special occasions. The box that they created has a unique shape and stands out from a typical gift box, and uses a similar triangular shape as the treat container. The box holds small items such as collars or small toys, and can be scaled up to hold larger items such as bones, leashes, and pet apparel.

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Unit 1: Pantone 7753

Environmental Conditions

Unit 2: Pantone 7608

Temperature: 71ºF Humidity: 51.5 Rh

Unit 3: Pantone 7476

Unit 4: Pantone Cool Gray 2

Figure 15: Gift box press specifications

PMS

Density (proof)

Avg Density (final)

L*a*b* (proof)

L*a*b* (final)

Avg ∆E00

7753

0.95

0.95

L*: 71.2 a*: 3.7 b*: 53.0

L*: 70.2 a*: 4.2 b*: 54.7

0.9

7608

1.15

1.25

L*: 47.4 a*: 31.6 b*: 21.6

L*: 41.9 a*: 33.3 b*: 23.4

5.3

7476

1.05

1.10

L*: 41.9 a*: -17.0 b*: -8.9

L*: 42.5 a*: -17.8 b*: -9.3

0.9

Cool Gray 2

0.15

0.16

L*: 81.9 a*: 1.2 b*: -5.1

L*: 86.6 a*: 1.4 b*: -5.4

3.3

Figure 16: Gift box color management report

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Figure 17: Tails treat container

Treat Container For the second product, they decided to make a treat container for the baked goods that Tails sells to their customers. They currently use a plain white paper bag, with no printing or label to signify where it’s from. Since the bakery treats are some of the most purchased items in the store, they wanted to create a treat container for the client that is able to showcase the store logo and advertise their brand. The container is easy to assemble and holds any of the bakery items that Tails offers. It also has a secure, flat bottom that will prevent more delicate bakery items from rolling around and getting crushed.

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Unit 1: Pantone 7753

Environmental Conditions

Unit 2: Pantone 7608

Temperature: 72ºF Humidity: 49.5 Rh

Unit 3: Pantone 7476

Unit 4: Pantone Cool Gray 2

Figure 18: Treat container press specifications

PMS

Density (proof)

Avg Density (final)

L*a*b* (proof)

L*a*b* (final)

Avg ∆E00

7753

0.95

0.91

L*: 71.2 a*: 3.7 b*: 53.0

L*: 70.8 a*: 3.9 b*: 52.9

0.3

7608

1.15

1.33

L*: 47.4 a*: 31.6 b*: 21.6

L*: 39.6 a*: 33.4 b*: 23.8

7.3

7476

1.05

1.07

L*: 41.9 a*: -17.0 b*: -8.9

L*: 43.0 a*: -17.1 b*: -8.8

1.0

Cool Gray 2

0.15

0.16

L*: 81.9 a*: 1.2 b*: -5.1

L*: 86.4 a*: 1.4 b*: -5.1

3.0

Figure 19: Treat container color management report

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Figure 20: Quality checking the printed gift box

Labels For the final product, the team decided to create a variety of labels. The first being a label for shipping boxes. Since Tails ships a large quantity of products to customers, they wanted to create a label that could attach to the box and showcase the brand. They also created labels for the name “Tails” in the style of the logo. The purpose of this label is to be stuck onto a shopping bag for in-store purchases. Tails previously used green plastic bags for customers to carry their items in. This label, however, would be adhered to a kraft bag—a more environmentally friendly option which would advertise the brand when customers leave the shop. The team also included two different sized circular labels:

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Unit 1: Pantone 7753

Environmental Conditions

Unit 2: Pantone 7608

Temperature: 72ºF Humidity: 49.5 Rh

Unit 3: Pantone 7476

Unit 6: UV Varnish

Figure 21: Labels press specifications

PMS

Density (proof)

Avg Density (final)

L*a*b* (proof)

L*a*b* (final)

Avg ∆E00

7753

1.00

0.96

L*: 71.0 a*: 2.5 b*: 53.9

L*: 71.0 a*: 4.0 b*: 56.7

1.5

7608

1.35

1.36

L*: 42.4 a*: 34.4 b*: 24.2

L*: 39.6 a*: 35.6 b*: 25.5

2.6

7476

1.25

1.34

L*: 36.1 a*: -19.9 b*: -9.2

L*: 34.8 a*: -19.7 b*: -9.3

1.4

Figure 22: Labels color management report

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a large label to be stuck on a shopping bag or the shipping box, and a smaller one to be handed out as marketing collateral either in shop or with orders being shipped out.

Innovation of Final Solution • The Phoenix Challenge team created uniquely shaped packages that gave Tails a distinctive and recognizable brand look, which is a solution to Tails’ lack of consistent branding. • The treat container was designed with an auto-lock bottom, which is easy to use and space efficient because it can be stored flat. • The gift box’s twist top opening elevates the unboxing experience of the high quality products sold by Tails, while keeping consistent with the triangular shapes of the pastry container. The dieline can also be easily scaled up for larger boxes. • The team fulfilled multiple needs in an economical way that made sense to a small business like Tails with their assortment of marketing labels and stickers. This versatile solution allows the client to brand multiple types of standard packages that exceed the press size such as shopping bags and shipping boxes

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Figure 23 & 24: Final branded bags and shipping box


References A Labeling Guide for Restaurants and Retail Establishments Selling Away – From-Home Foods – Part II (Menu Labeling Requirements in Accordance with 21 CFR 101.11): Guidance for Industry. (2016, April). Retrieved January 6, 2020, from https://www.fda.gov/media/93414/ download. American Veterinary Medical Association. (2019, May). Pet Ownership, Spending Going Strong. Retrieved Nov. 7, 2019, from https://www.avma.org/javma-news/2019-06-01/ pet-ownership-spending-going-strong American Veterinary Medical Association. (2019, May). Pet Ownership, spending going strong. Retrieved December 4, 2019, from https://www.avma.org/javma-news/2019-06-01/ pet-ownership-spending-going-strong American Veterinary Medical Association (2018). U.S. pet ownership statistics. Retrieved April 04, 2020, from https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/reports-statistics/ us-pet-ownership-statistics Bakery Labels and Stickers. (2019, April). Retrieved January 6, 2020, from https://www. foodpackaginglabels.net/ bakery-labels/. Food Packaging: A Guide to Best Practices for Print. (2015, July). Retrieved November 7, 2019, from https://www. flintgrp.com/media/4100/food-packaging-brochure_nw_ september_2016-copy.pdf.

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The Link Between Film and Society Jalitaa Chen


Introduction There are currently many major social issues that are dominating the world’s attention and it has affected so much of our daily lives. Media, especially film, is not immune to its effect and there have been many films recently that touch on these subjects and deliver a narrative that sends a message to its audience and in return, has a great influence on society. Jalitaa Chen’s project goal is to analyze what these films are trying to say and how it gives an insight into today’s cultural values and societal expectations.

Moonlight What Moonlight is a film that follows Chiron, a gay black man, through three pivotal chapters of his life. In each chapter, the film explores Chiron’s relationships within his community; his bullies, his drug-addicted mother, Juan, who becomes his safe haven and father figure, and Kevin, a friend that helps him realize his sexuality.

Why Although Chiron’s story of struggling with his sexual identity as a black boy growing into a man in a rough neighborhood is not uncommon or unheard of, it is an uncommon story to be portrayed on the big screen as a big Hollywood blockbuster. This representation of people who identify as LGBTQ+ and as a person of color is significant and calls for awareness in a society where gay black men are often silenced. This film not only gives them a voice, but it also introduces a new perspective during a time where America is in a tense

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political situation. Especially with the Black Lives Matter Movement and the 2020 presidential election, America has a strong “us versus them” mentality, which has split our nation and created a lot of tension. Moonlight tells a story of love, compassion, hardships, family, growing up, all universal themes that anyone can relate to. Moonlight shows its audience that there is no “us versus them.” It shows the audience that we are all human and all seek love and understanding from one another, no matter our skin color, sexual preference, or where or how we grew up. It raises important questions regarding life and the relationships that are relevant to every person.

Meaning & Impact Moonlight, although subtle in its social commentary, is a powerful film that speaks volumes about topics like homophobia, bullying, addiction, and systemic racism. Chiron is a young, black, gay, and largely friendless child that goes through struggles out of his control and through no fault of his own, lives in a society that has been against him since he was born. These factors can make anybody feel invisible and unwanted. During a significant scene where Chiron and Kevin share an intimate conversation, Chiron says he feels that he cries so often that he could simply turn into liquid and roll into the ocean. In The Tempest article, “How Moonlight is revolutionizing culture in Hollywood,” Jennifer Njoku writes that Moonlight, “educates and appreciates without generalizing,” while “diving into African American cliches [...and shattering them] (Njoku, 2017).”

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Figure 1: Moonlight Official Poster

Figure 2: Moonlight Concept Art Poster

It’s affected millions throughout the world by celebrating diversity and recognizing there is no one person who is inherently bad or good. This movie has a message of tolerance and understanding by being able to connect and relate to anyone who is watching. In Hollywood, this movie has broken through the mold of what a typical movie looks like on a big screen, and it is part of the movement to fix the problem with the lack of representation in Hollywood.

Original Poster Analysis A lot of memorable shots in Moonlight are close-ups of the main character, Chiron’s face. The use of the shallow depth

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of field creates a strong focus on the character’s emotion. The poster (Figure 1) follows the same style, filling up 80% of the poster witha collage of Chiron’s face through the three chapters of his life. The color scheme consists of neon shades of bright turquoise, purple, and navy not only represents the title, but to signify the different stages of life. Bright turquoise representing childhood which then becomes a rich purple and finally darkening with the conflicts Chiron goes through into a deep dark navy. The simplicity of this poster is one of its greatest strengths. The minimalistic approach of splicing together three different profiles of the same character does a great job reflecting the movie and its tone.

Concept Poster Analysis With this conceptual poster (Figure 2), Chen wanted to continue the theme from the original poster of focusing on the face. Here she reconstructed Chiron’s face from the first stage of his life because she believes that a person’s childhood is their foundation for who they are. Chen kept the color blue and teal as a direct reference to the quote in the original play, “In Moonlight, black boys look blue (McCraney, 2017).”

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Her What Her is a complicated love story between the main character, Theodore Twombly, and Samantha, a smart, funny, bright-sounding voice that happens to be a piece of artificial intelligence. Their relationship evolves throughout the film from a friendship to a deep love. This film delves into the opportunities and the risks of love in the modern age.

Why Director, Spike Jonze, explores and questions within this film the idea of what constitutes as love, what love could be, and what being human means. The character, Theodore, lives in a world so strongly intertwined and infused with technology; a world not so distant from our own. The technology has long surpassed basic functionality and efficiency, but has reached the point of offering a sense of connection and experience. Throughout the movie, Spike begs the question whether this connection and experience is genuine or just an illusion. Theodore works for a company known by the name of BeautifulHandwrittenLetters.com, where he is commissioned to write beautiful heartfelt letters for other people. He simply dictates the letter aloud while his computer records the message. The letter itself sounds human and heart-wrenching, however it does represent only a beautiful illusion. All the genuine parts of a hand-written letter have been removed out of efficiency. This film asks it’s audience to ponder whether technology is something intended to make our lives better, or if it only acts as a distraction

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to further push us away from a genuine human experience and connection.

Meaning & Impact Her is a film depicting a unique love story in the future. The film discusses the idea of singularity, or the foreseen period of time where technology becomes uncontrollable. There have been many movies, like The Matrix, that have touched on this idea and played around with what could happen in a dramatic, entertaining way. Her is different as it shows us a potential future that could very well become reality. Rather than technology taking over human civilization through the form of intelligent fighter robots, technology in this film is more subtle and seemingly a pure benefit to society. Her shows how the front of technology being a benefit to society is really only a buffer from true genuine connection and true experiences. This film begs the audience to ask big questions that are universal to the world we live in right now. With the steep rise of innovations within technology, it is important to consider how this is affecting us now, and how it could potentially affect us in the future. Even now, social media’s initial goal was to create easier ways to connect to one another however, it has only made in-person interactions harder, and the overuse of social media has pushed people further away from each other. Individuals would rather stick their faces in their phone rather than converse with another human in many situations. The impact from this film has raised many questions regarding the evolving relationship between humans and their technology.

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Figure 3: Her Official Poster

Figure 4: Her Concept Poster

Original Poster Analysis Her explores the theme of what the nature of being human means. It explores possibilities through the main character, Theodore Twombly, and his relationship with Samantha, a constantly evolving artificial intelligence. Since Samantha has no physical form, but her voice, conversations between the two only show close-up observations of Theodore’s face and his emotions. To continue the theme of human nature, the poster (Figure 3) is minimal and focuses on Theodore Twombly. His expression shows his emotional conflicts and indicates this is


an analytical drama surrounding the inner workings of his character. The color scheme is monochromatic with bright reds and pinks, the universal color for love. This creates a stark contrast with Theodore’s bright green eyes which are commonly seen as windows to a person’s soul—giving the audience a feeling of intense intimacy with this character.

Concept Poster Analysis For Chen’s conceptual poster (Figure 4), she decided to isolate the main character, Theodore, and his love interest, Samantha. The film shows how isolated technology can make a person. Even in scenes of Theodore in public within crowds of people, the focus still remains on the private conversations shared by Theodore and Samantha. Although Samantha is shown as the earpiece in Theodore’s ear, her strong presence in the film required a stronger presence in the poster as well as she has no physical body, Chen represented her with the symbol that resembling her sound waves in the film. The symbols slowly transform into a shape of a heart within Theodore to show their strong relationship with each other. For the color scheme, she stuck to the same red from the original poster, since it very well represents love.


The Florida Project What The Florida Project is a film about a young girl named Moonee and her mother, Halley, living out of a motel and struggling through poverty while living by The Happiest Place on Earth, Disney World. The film explores this struggle through the eyes of Moonee, painting the world through vibrant colors and adventures.

Why The film follows the main protagonist, Moonee, and her friends through wild adventures exploring abandoned neighborhoods, meddling with passerby, and pulling pranks on other motel residents. Because we see the film through the eyes of a child, her world seems fun and playful, with plenty of mischievous antics to fill her time. This innocent perspective plays a stark contrast with her living situation, in which if any passerby called it in, she would be placed under the care of the state. This unique perspective is largely significant in the film as it reveals the truths of living in poverty through subtle hints that are normal to Moonee, yet eye-opening to the audience. It beautifully paints Moonee’s world with a sense of charisma without romanticizing her innocence or their poverty. This film shows rather than tells a story through significant details that create fully three-dimensional characters that feel like they exist outside of the screen. Gathering inspiration from The Little Rascals, Sean Baker emphasizes the joy and beauty of being a child even when surrounded by a harsh reality.

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Meaning & Impact The Florida Project is a powerful movie that portrays hardships, childhood, and friendship. This slice-of-life film forces its audience to work out it’s message on their own, which makes it even more impactful and memorable. Since, this is an analysis on the film, Jalitaa will made it easy for you and delivered a direct quote from the director, Sean Baker, himself, “Housing is a fundamental human right, and I think the first step toward change is awareness, so if we can get more people to be aware of this national situation” (Lee, 2017). He continues, “I hope this movie inspires people to get involved—donation, education, support, advocacy” (Lee, 2017). The main goal of this movie is raising awareness and bringing up the topic for more discussion and hopefully change. Baker does this gracefully by relating to his audience’s inner child and creating something anyone can sympathize with. This film made a significant impact by telling an underrepresented story of life in the lower class. This is important, because this struggle occurs everyday in real life as the economy dips and people are now struggling just to survive. Although it is shot with a sense of playfulness, it in no way undermines or sugarcoats the reality of many people. Nor does it try to preach or teach a lesson; instead it offers a window into the lives of over 15 million kids that live under the poverty line in the United States, which is nearly a quarter of the country’s children. By raising awareness, Sean Baker hopes to also change these statistics.

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Figure 5: The Florida Project Official Poster Figure 6: The Florida Project Concept Poster

Original Poster Analysis This poster (Figure 5) is designed to match the perspective of how the film is shot, from a child’s viewpoint close to the ground. The Florida Project is filmed not only from a child’s physical viewpoint but it is also completely shot from a child’s perspective, meaning vivid colors, larger than life landscapes and buildings, and looking up adult’s noses. Moonee is shown in action, running off to explore and cause more ruckus with a picturesque rainbow hanging in the background. This depicts the film pretty well, considering a majority of the film follows her around on her

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adventures. The exuberant colors and film-look quality to the poster gives a feeling of nostalgia and reminds viewers of the joy and lightheartedness of being a kid.

Concept Poster Analysis For this film poster redesign, Chen wanted to communicate and showcase the vibrant and playfulness of the cinematography and style choices of the director. Chen created a collage (Figure 6) of significant locations that surrounded the main protagonist’s world where Mooney lived and explored. The Magic Castle Inn and the Futureland Inn, where they lived and developed relationships with other residents, take up the main stage of the collage. The grass that borders the bottom of the collage represents the safari-like backyard where Mooney and her friends explore. She placed Mooney and her mother, Halley, forehead to forehead at the bottom of the poster next to the title to emphasize the importance of their relationship within this film.

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Cathy Come Home What Cathy Come Home is a realistic drama documentary film that follows protagonists, Cathy and Reg and their three children, down their downward spiral into poverty and homelessness during the 1960s. The film is a tragedy that shows how perfectly good citizens can fall into poverty unexpectedly and remain stuck or pushed even further down because of the flaws of the British welfare system.

Why This film was among the first to shine a light on the issue of the homelessness in the UK. Although this sort of situation was commonplace, it was not talked about and there was not much discussion towards coming up with a solution to these avoidable tragedies. The cinematographer, Tony Imi shot this film as a splice between drama and reality, including narrative and witness accounts from real people who are stuck in the unforgiving jaws of homelessness. These very real commentary address the statistics and the true experiences of those who are in Cathy’s situation and it gives the film a feeling of realism and seriousness which was rare for BBC dramas at that time. The director, Ken Loach also had a unique approach to naturalism. Much of the script was improvised and included unknowing members of the public. This greatly heightened the impact of the film and inflamed the public’s call-to-action.

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Meaning & Impact At the time this film was being created, Britain was facing a national housing crisis with over 3 million families living in the slums and another 1.4 million were living in houses that were deemed unfit for human habitation. Des Wilson, co-founder of Shelter, a charity for homelessness as well as a campaign for more funding in housing, recalls his observations of the poor. He describes seeing “thousands of families packed into crumbling houses; 30 or more people sharing one tap and one toilet” (Wilson, 2016). He continues, describing the “desperate and exhausted faces of young mothers trying to keep their families together in one overcrowded and unhealthy room” (Wilson, 2016). ” This film shows the living conditions no human should have to go through. It also explores the issues of unemployment, the inflexibility of the British welfare system, and a mother’s rights to keep their own children. When Cathy Come Home was first broadcasted, over 12 million people, over a quarter of the British population at the time, watched it. Overnight, this film sparked a flame that grew to become a wildfire among the public and people called for change. The public was furious and horrified over the homeless condition and a massive amount of phone calls to BBC were called with inquiries offering to help. The charity, Shelter, which was coincidently launched weeks after this film, was flooded with supporters and donors alike, hoping to bring about change. Cathy Come Home was so influential that it became a topic among parliament. Laws were shortly passed allowing husbands to stay with their wives and children at homeless

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Figure 7: Cathy Come Home Official Poster Figure 8: Cathy Come Home Concept Art

shelters. In the film, Reg was forced to leave Cathy and their kids and find his own lodging. Finally in 1977, the Housing Act was passed and it gave local authorities the legal responsibility to provide housing to those in priority need and to give advice and support to those who are in need of assistance but do not fit the requirements of being a priority need.

Original Poster Analysis This poster was designed in 1966 and it was creating a visual that would represent one part of The Wednesday Play, which

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was an anthology series that was known for bringing awareness to issues that are not talked about much on screen. The poster shows parents, Cathy and Reg, and their children. From the unassuming eye, one could say they looked like part of a regular middle-class family living in Britain. The film shows how everyday people that are just like you and me, can be caught in unfortunate situations. It allows the audience to better relate and sympathize with this family, showing that everyone deserves the right for help. The title of the film is placed at the top of the poster with ‘Cathy’ displayed in a rich red that contrasts against the picture and commands the focus of the whole poster.

Concept Poster Analysis Chen’s vision for this poster was to revamp the original poster, but in a more contemporary style. The story begins with Cathy and her husband, Reg, with a majority of the film centering around their degrading mental health and unhealthy lifestyle Chen isolated the two protagonists with minimal props or distractions as the film shows how this couple, although desperate for help and assistance, was shunned and isolated due to their situation. She centered the title and made it the only source of color. This eye-catching red title aligns with the vivid and eye-catching red used in the original movie poster. The white space around the title only further focuses the attention on the title and the protagonists.

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Philadelphia What Philadelphia tells the story of Andrew Beckett, a lawyer who is discriminated against by his large law firm due to his sexuality and HIV status. Beckett fights this in court with the help of Joe Miller, the only lawyer willing to help with his case. This film was released in 1993, during the HIV crisis where millions were discriminated against and pushed to the side when they needed help the most.

Why Although there were at least ten other films at the time that addressed the HIV crisis, it centered around heterosexual men, which undermined the suppressed group that was suffering the most from the epidemic, the gay community. Philadelphia was the first breakthrough film that accurately portrayed an openly gay man with AIDS. The film begins by establishing the type of person Andrew Beckett, and follows him through his daily work life at one of the most powerful law firms in Philadelphia. His coworkers show him respect and the light-hearted interactions he has with them shows his kindness and humor. Beckett is called into his overseer’s office where he is promoted to Senior Associate and is surrounded by applause and cause for celebration. He is obviously well-loved, smart, and a very respectable person, yet he is still fired when his superiors find out that he is gay and suffering from AIDS. What made this film so impactful wasn’t Andrew Beckett’s perspective, but rather the homophobic lawyer he teams up

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with, Joe Miller. This film was targeted towards people similar to Miller, “he gave voice to the fear and stigma to all the things that were holding people in getting involved in this or learning more about it” (Gordon, 2013).”

Meaning & Impact This film was largely significant for it’s time because it broke the ice of stigma against homosexuality and the issue of AIDS on the big Hollywood screen. Throughout America, the AIDS epidemic was serious and spreading fast. This deadly disease wasn’t acknowledged much by society because it happened to those whose sexuality was so demonized that politicians didn’t bother to see it as a priority. The nation’s homophobia and lack of acceptance gave an excuse to turning a blind eye towards real people whose lives were at serious risk. Philadelphia took on a towering goal of changing the nation’s perspective by depicting Andrew Beckett, a man who, just like any other man in America, just wants to live the best life he can and pursue the American dream, as every American has the right to. However, his dream falls apart against a system and society that turns their back on him just because of who he chooses to love. This film shows us that everyone is human and equal, and deserving of help, especially when their life is at risk. After the release of this film, there was a nationwide shift in it’s behavior towards this fast-spreading epidemic. The death toll was surging during the production of this film,

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Figure 9: Philadelphia Official Poster

Figure 10: Philadelphia Concept Poster

and by the time it came out, it had reached over 200,000 deaths. People who feared catching the “Gay Plague” by any interaction with the LGBTQ+ community, paid to see this film, which told them why their prejudices were unjust. They now had the awareness to start having impactful discussions on how to help people like Andrew Beckett. Philadelphia urged the nation to have these very necessary conversations to push for a cure and save lives. Marla Gold, a public health dean at Drexel University and HIV doctor, said this movie has accomplished what many health leaders have been trying to accomplish for years, creating an accurate awareness among the public about the AIDS epidemic.

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Original Poster Analysis When this film was being casted, the role of Andrew Beckett was filled by the very adored Tom Hanks. This was significant because the high profile of this beloved heterosexual actor playing an openly gay man with AIDS drew in more attention from the general public. The renowned actors served as an effort to not only depict the characters accurately and truthfully as possible, but also heightened awareness of the movie before it even came out. This is why their faces, as well as their names are displayed prominently in the original poster. The simple black and white color scheme shows the dramatic nature of the film as well as the seriousness of the issue being portrayed on screen. The gravel set as the centerpiece of the poster has pieces of the city of Philadelphia within it’s shadows which gives the audience the film’s legal theme as well as the heart of where the movie is filmed.

Concept Poster Analysis Since this film is a serious drama that follows Andrew Beckett and his lawyer, Joe Miller, Chen wanted them to be the main focus of the poster as well. For the style of the poster, Chen wanted to match with the serious tone of the film and selected the serif font Baskerville in order to mimic Beckett’s lawyer background. She limited the color scheme to a few different shades of blue and created contrast against the white film title. The gavel symbol centered underneath the film title represents their fight for justice. Chen also designed the poster completely symmetrical in order to further symbolize the scale of justice for the film.

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References Gordon, E. (2013, December). Two decades ago, Tom Hanks and ‘Philadelphia’ prompted changing attitudes toward HIV-AIDS. WHYY. https://whyy.org/ segments/20th-anniversary-of-philadelphia/. Lee, A. (2017, October). ‘The Florida Project’: Director Sean Baker Explains How and Why He Shot That Ending. https://www. hollywoodreporter.com/news/florida-project-ending-director-sean-baker-explains-meaning-how-he-did-it-1047215. Njoku, J. (2017, January). How Moonlight is revolutionizing culture in Hollywood. The Tempest. https://thetempest. co/2017/01/17/entertainment/moonlight-influencing-cultural-revolution-hollywood-needs/. Wilson, D. (2016, December). Back in 1966, I saw a national housing emergency—and helped found Shelter. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2016/dec/01/ housing-crisis-1966-des-wilson-shelter.

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Meet the Team Cal Poly TAGA 2020-2021 Executive Board

Emily McSwain (she/her) President Emily McSwain is a third-year Graphic Communication student concentrating in Design Reproduction Technology, with a minor in Child Development. She is from Mill Valley, California, and chose Graphic Communication at Cal Poly because she believes it is the perfect intersection between creative and technical disciplines. In the future, Emily hopes to work in desktop publishing or branding at a creative agency.

Victoria Plumb (she/her) Vice President Victoria Plumb is a fourth-year Graphic Communication student concentrating in Design Reproduction Technology, and minoring in Psychology. She is from Los Angeles, California, and chose Graphic Communication because she wanted to pursue something where she could visually communicate her ideas. In the future, Victoria would love to work in visual communications or graphic design for a mental health organization.

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Kaylee Kitayama (she/her) Design Coordinator Kaylee Kitayama is a fourth-year Graphic Communication student, concentrating in UX/ UI, and minoring in Computing for Interactive Arts. She is from Beaverton, Oregon, and chose her fields of study to develop a strong design foundation. Kaylee also loves Cal Poly’s “Learn by Doing” mantra and has loved applying it to all of her studies. In the future Kaylee hopes to go into art direction for an animation studio, gaming company, or creative agency.

Lindsay Hynes (she/her) Marketing Coordinator Lindsay Hynes is a fourth- year transfer student majoring in Graphic Communication with a concentration in Design Reproduction Technology. She is from Carlsbad, California, and aspires to go into marketing in real estate in the future. Lindsay transferred to Cal Poly because she enjoyed it’s “Learn By Doing” philosophy. The Graphic Communication major has helped her gather an understanding of the types of work she enjoys and can see herself doing in the future.

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Ashley Hiraoka (she/her) Digital Coordinator Ashley Hiraoka is a third-year Graphic Communication student, concentrating in UX/ UI. She is originally from Los Altos, California, and chose Graphic Communication at Cal Poly because she believes that it is the perfect combination of design and technology. Her hobbies include: cooking, painting, and staying active, whether it be alpine skiing or running. In the future, Ashley aspires to work in UX/UI, product design, or at a creative agency.

Nicky Sandoz (he/him) Production/AR Coordinator Nicky Sandoz is a fourth-year Graphic Communication student concentrating in Management and minoring in Psychology. He is from Newport Beach, California, and fell in love with Cal Poly when he toured the campus in high school. He loves how interactive and hands-on Graphic Communication is, and believes it is the best example of Cal Poly’s “Learn by Doing” philosophy. In the future, he hopes to get an MBA and help run a graphic arts/print business.

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Lilly Bras (she/her) Research Coordinator Lilly Bras is a second-year Graphic Communication student concentrating in UX/UI with a media arts minor. She is from Pleasanton, California, and chose Graphic Communication at Cal Poly because she loves design and it is the perfect location from her hometown. In the future, Lilly aspires to become a web and app designer or something related to film and video editing/animation.

Dr. Ruoxi Rachel Ma (she/her) Chapter Advisor Dr. Rachel Ruoxi Ma is an assistant professor and the advisor of Cal Poly’s TAGA chapter. As a professor, she teaches Materials for Graphic Communication and Digital and Offset Printing Methods. Dr. Ma is from Xinjiang, China, and decided to come to Cal Poly because of its elite Graphic Communication program. She enjoys its state-of-art equipment, evolving curriculum, strong industry support, and most of all, the students, professors, and staff.

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Pictured are some of the 2020-2021 general body members of the Cal Poly TAGA chapter. This group consists of both underclassmen and upperclassmen who aid the executive board in the design and production of the journal. Many of these involved members go on to become part of the chapter’s executive board.

Members Jackson Alexander, Jas Alcantara, Shannon Brierty, Zara Iqbal, Caden Kerr, Aidan Nesbitt, Cindy Nguyen, Emma Steward, Isabella Walker, Kylie Wong, & Karen Zheng.

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Acknowledgments The 2020–2021 Cal Poly TAGA Student Chapter would like to thank the following people for their guidance and contributions.

The Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Graphic Communication Department, specifically: Dr. Ruoxi Rachel Ma, Chapter Advisor Professor Colleen Twomey, Department Chair Professor Lorraine Donegan Professor Donna Templeton

Supporters & Sponsors M.J. Anderson, RealityBLU Cal Poly College of Liberal Arts Pacific Printing Industries Printing Industries Association Inc. of Southern California Visual Media Alliance

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Colophon Design This journal was designed using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign. The typeface used is Karla, available from Google Fonts. The cover design and Hollywood illustration were created by Design Coordinator, Kaylee Kitayama. All other illustrations were created by Aidan Nesbitt, Caden Kerr, Emma Steward, and Isabella Walker respectively.

Production & Electronic Publishing All work was done under the guidance of Graphic Communication professors Dr. Ruoxi Rachel Ma, Lorraine Donegan, and Donna Templeton. The journal articles were edited for this publication. Augmented reality elements are powered by RealityBLU® technology and were animated using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe After Effects. Animations were created by Production/AR Coordinator, Nicky Sandoz, Aidan Nesbitt, Zara Iqbal, Caden Kerr, Isabella Walker, Kylie Wong, and Karen Zheng respectively. This journal was published using Issuu and embedded on the Cal Poly TAGA 2021 website. Wireframes were created using Figma and the website was designed and published through Wix. Social media posts for Instagram and LinkedIn were designed using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign.



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