Package & Label Design Process Book
Spring 2014
Shayne Smith
FRESH PASTA FOR THE PEOPLE OF CASCADIA. Retail pasta shop and restaurant (called “The Table”) located in the heart of downtown Bellingham next door to the historic Mount Baker Theater. Offers a broad range of pasta from high quality ingredients focusing on regional trade and locally produced products whenever possible. “Buying locally means more than just providing you with the freshest ingredients available, it also minimizes carbon footprint while supporting our local economy.” Bellingham Pasta Company was started in 2008 as a small wholesale business and quickly turned into a full time operation, providing fresh pasta to area grocery stores, restaurants, caterers, delis and of course the famous Bellingham Farmers Market. They have always shared a passion for fresh, delicious food and with time became increasingly aware that the public also prefers fresh pasta given its superior quality and nutritional value, as well as its ease of preparation. “Our dream has always been to deliver a quality product at an affordable price. We are proud to provide the community with pasta that is not only comforting on long winter evenings but is also wonderful for warm summer gatherings.”
THE TABLE The Table in the heart of downtown Bellingham next to The Mount Baker Theatre opened in July of 2010.
The restaurant name “The Table” emphasizes the 22 seat community table that accommodates parties of many sizes and the theater-going crowd.
“It has been our mission from the start to be known both for our consistently exceptional food and our commitment to supporting the local economy.”
Perfect for date night, casual Happy Hour drinks, large parties and families.
The local abundance of wineries, breweries, organic farms, wild seafood, and ethically raised meats has made their choice to source locally obvious and enjoyable.
“It is our pleasure to be a gathering place for the people of our community to enjoy a meal, play a game, share laughter, warm service and pure, honest food.”
“We feel it is essential to make subtle changes to our menu every few months to highlight seasonal food while always focusing on what we do best...fresh pasta!”
The Table Restaurant was awarded the 2010 Sustainable Connections Award for Buying Local First.
THE PEOPLE / THE KITCHEN Anna Rankin and Katie Hinton are the founders of Bellingham Pasta Co, making a variety of noodles for local consumers. They were goth born and raised in Portland, Oregon, where fresh pasta was plentiful, and, after separately moving to Bellingham, Rankin and Hinton decided to fill the void with their own fare. Bellingham Pasta Co. was never a home kitchen endeavor. From the beginning, Rankin and Hinton have been in the wholesale business, renting space in a commercial kitchen in town twice a week. To make a batch of semolina pasta, they first crack eggs and weigh semolina flour portions before dumping them into a
box-shaped machine called an extruder. The extruder mixes the ingredients into dough, which is then forced through a cylinder that is situated at the bottom of the machine. A circular brass piece, called a die, is fitted on the end of the cylinder. Different dies create different pasta shapes. As the pasta is passed through the die, it takes on the desired shape. For the long pastas, like spaghetti, they will use a pastry cutter to slice even cuts of noodles as the dough comes out of the die. The noodles are then sprinkled with rice flour to keep them from sticking together. Then the pasta is left in bunches on the table or drying racks for a period of time before packaged and then delivered to local stores.
THE PRODUCT Cooking time for fresh pasta is substantially less than dry pasta. As a general rule, all of our fresh pastas cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Allow 4-6 quarts of water per pound. When removing the pasta from package “fluff� it up a bit, separating the noodles before adding it to the water. Add pasta to salted boiling water, stir & begin timing. Cooking times vary so check pasta after 2 minutes and do not overcook. Once pasta is cooked, drain well and toss immediately with the sauce, coating evenly. Enjoy!
Fresh Pasta Selections: Spaghetti: Semolina, Whole Wheat, Vegan Linguine: Semolina, Lemon Black Pepper, Roasted Red Pepper, Gluten Free Fettuccine: Semolina, Spinach, Kalamata Olive Cuts: Penne, Fusilli, Shells Angel Hair: Semolina Lasagne Sheets: Semolina
THE CURRENT PACKAGING Pros: - The pastas are packaged in 100% compostable containers. - You can see the product through the clear plastic so that you know exactly what you’re getting. - The label has everything you need to know about the pasta. - The logo is prominent as well as the name of the product (ex. Spinach Fettuccine).
Cons: - The packaging is boring compared to the product. The product is gourmet, fresh and local, but the packaging does not support the great purpose of the product. - The label is very boring and just a sticker on the front. It lacks color, excitement and shelf-value. - Despite the fact that the plastic container is compostable (made from a renewable resource, typically cornstarch), plastic in general cheapens the product.
THE TARGET AUDIENCE - 18-26 years old. - Lives in Bellingham (might refer to the Pacific Northwest as “Cascadia�). - Supports local products and cares about where their food comes from; likes to support the local economy.
- Eats out occasionally to places in downtown Bellingham including The Table. - Shops at the Community Food Co-Op, Haggen grocery store and/or on-campus food market. - Cares about minimizing their carbon footprint; might grow their own crops.
- Prefers fresh ingredients and produce over brand name products; cares about what they consume and likes to maintain a healthy diet.
- May spend a bit extra for quality.
- Regular at the Bellingham Farmers Market.
- Bikes or carpools whenever they can.
- Volunteers occasionally for the community.
THE COMPETITORS
Barilla For over 130 years, the name Barilla has meant “authentic Italian food” to millions of people around the world. Today, Barilla is proud to be Italy’s #1 brand of pasta and is excited to be sharing our passion for Italian food and culture. Barilla’s family of products: Classic Blue Box, Whole Grain, PLUS®, Piccolini®, Tortellini & Tortelloni, and Sauce. This pasta is sold in the same stores as Bellingham Pasta Co.
DeLallo Whether it’s found on traditional Italian grocery items such as olive oil, pasta, vinegars and tomatoes, or on our complete line of cured table olives and antipasti, DeLallo guarantees you authenticity, integrity, and consistency. This pasta is sold in the same stores as Bellingham Pasta Co.
Pros: - The packaging is iconic and well-known for pasta. - Its shelf-presence hold a lot of truth because of their long history of being an affordable and quality product. - The blue boxes and bright red logo with windows to see the shape of the pasta is a staple for their packaging. The blue boxes stand out among the other packages (except for Ronzoni).
Pros: - The packaging allows you to see the full contents of the interior. - The graphics and type are printed directly on the plastic containing the pasta. - The color scheme and typography lends to the organic quality of the product.
Cons: - The packaging is unexciting. For a brand that has been around for so long, it’s hard for them to change their design, but the design is cliché. - Some of the gradients and banners don’t look very good. - Showing the fork with the pasta on it or a bowl of the pasta is something that as a consumer I don’t care for when it comes to pasta. All I want to see is the shape of the noodles and decide based on that as well as the label (ex. Penne, Veggie, etc.)
Cons: - It lacks a bit of excitement in the packaging. - They actually have a dramatic difference in their other packaging for their other pasta products (see website). - The overall design is a bit forgettable.
Al Dente Al Dente Pasta believes in treasuring the people behind the pasta. Cooking in 3 minutes with fresh ingredients, Al Dente® is all about making pasta versatile, healthy, and fun for the family. This pasta is sold in the same stores as Bellingham Pasta Co. Pros: - The packaging is fun, both in the way it’s packaged and the interior noodles being scattered. Most packages for spaghetti keeps them in a long form, while Al Dente allows the noodles to dry in a tangled form. - The sticker that seals the plastic bag stays true to the checkered-pattern of the brand. - The plastic bag look shows all of the packages contents. Cons: - I’m not sure if I like the sticker-on-the-bag design, only because it can sometimes cheapen the product. - The design in the stickers is kind of busy. - Since the product is tangled in that form, the bags need to be larger (more material). - I thought the brand name was Chia since that’s the largest text on the label, but it’s actually Al Dente.
THE INSPIRATION
THE INSPIRATION
THE INSPIRATION
THE INSPIRATION
THE IDEATION
THE INITIAL DESIGN COMPS After sketching and compiling inspiration, I decided on doing a wrapped label around a clear plastic bag containing the pasta. The label as a full strip of paper would be 17x3” with 7” visible in the front, 7” in the back and 3” on the bottom. My first design comp went in a more local and elegant direction. This design has a very warm and home-y feel to it with the color scheme (matching the logo color scheme). I included a black and white image of Mount Baker to relate to the local aspect of the pasta coming from Bellingham. The logo is then underneath that with accompanying ornaments. The name of the pasta contained in the package is the most emphasized element on the front. Then below it is the amount of time it takes to cook as well as the serving size. Secondary to that is “Keep Refrigerated” and the net weight. For this design, I created a pattern out of the circular part of the logo that continued onto the back.
BOTTOM
The back has an image of the fresh pasta that Bellingham Pasta Co. displays at every Bellingham Farmers Market. “Fresh pasta for the people of Cascadia” is emphasized on this label like it is on their website. I then included a brief description of the company, cooking instructions, ingredients, and contact information. The pattern from the front wraps around to the back with the barcode. The main problem with this design, as with a lot of my other initial comps, was the font size and the color. This warm color scheme wouldn’t stand out very well on the shelf. FRONT
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FULL WRAP
THE INITIAL DESIGN COMPS This design comp is part of the first one seen on the previous page. It is showing how a second type of pasta would look. The main changes are the swapped color scheme, “Olive Fettuccine� and the pattern now being the wheat vector from the logo. I also changed the local image to be that of downtown Bellingham and the Mount Baker Theatre tower (which is where the Bellingham Pasta Co. is located). There is slightly different cooking instructions and ingredients as well.
BOTTOM
FRONT
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FULL WRAP
THE INITIAL DESIGN COMPS As a new direction, I went with a more organic and illustrative design. In this comp, I imagined the paper to be cardboard (sustainable material), and the product would be embroidered along the top as a seal. Another seal idea I had was having the logo along the top be a sticker to seal the wrap together. As you can see, there are a lot more handdrawn elements to this design. The name of the pasta is most prominent again, and below that is a drawing of Mount Baker. The bottom and the back also have illustrated elements too, such as ferns and a tree. The back has the same parts that the other design comp does but re-arranged to fit this design.
BOTTOM
The problems I had with this design were the colors were very muted and it would not stand out on the shelf against the pasta it contains and the other products sold around it.
FRONT
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FULL WRAP
THE INITIAL DESIGN COMPS For this third design idea, I went with a more elegant and modern look. With the use of a bright yellow and rich black, this pasta would definitely stand out on the shelf compared to the other competitors. The front design features a prominent logo with a repeated pattern (taken from the ornament in the P of “Pasta”). Then within the black sections, there’s gridded-out content with the location it’s made, the type of pasta inside and other necessary text. On the back, the logo is smaller and the large paragraph I had before on the previous designs is now gridded out on the back of this comp. This idea seemed to work well but there were a few issues with it. The issue of hierarchy came into play with the back grid, where the cooking instructions and ingredients were mixed in too much with the points made in the paragraph. The elegance of this didn’t fit too well with the fun and warm aspect of the company.
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THE FINAL DESIGN COMPS Based on my initial design comps, I wanted to take elements from the first idea and the last idea and combine their strengths. The first idea had the best overall layout and type hierarchy, while the last idea had the bold colors and grid pattern that were visually enticing. I increased the size of the bottom to 3.5� to give it a larger base to stand up on. Within these next few pages are four different pasta flavors with varying bright colors and patterns as well as different local imagery. They all are distinctive enough through color but cohesive enough through design that they work together well. During critique, a few strengths were mentioned. People said it was very cohesive, clearly labeled, had a very functional design, clear instructions, and liked the overall hierarchy of the type. There was a consensus that the bold colors and high contrast really helped re-enforce friendliness and made each pasta type unique.
BOTTOM
Some weaknesses brought up were the over-repeated image of the pasta on the back, but I think it suits the packaging and shows their assortment of fresh pastas that they display at the Farmers Market. Some people were not fond of the grid, while some people liked it. But I think compared to the long paragraph before, the grid really breaks up the information well.
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BACK FULL WRAP
THE FINAL DESIGN COMPS Second variation in the series.
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THE FINAL DESIGN COMPS Third variation in the series.
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THE FINAL DESIGN COMPS Fourth variation in the series.
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