Crave Chocolate Company - Process Manual by Timothea Wang

Process Manual

CONTENTS 04

Introduction

Logo Development

Graphic Standard

Packaging Design

Design Analysis

WHO WE ARE: CRAVE CHOCOLATE CO. We are a gourmet chocolate brand that specializes in chocolate bark. Unlike other companies, we pride ourselves on using all 100% organic ingredients. Enjoy your favorite snack on the go—guilt-free. You’ll bite more than you’ll bark. Cocoa ranks high amongst the crops known for being grown with the highest number of pesticides and most companies use these cocoa beans in their chocolate products. This information doesn’t sit well with us or our stomachs, so we have founded our company on the mission of using only organic cocoa. However, what truly sets us apart is that this principle extends to the rest of the ingredients used in our products as well. Not only does this make our chocolates better for your health, but it also creates a richer, more complex taste. We want you to keep your body healthy and your taste buds happy.

MISSION STATEMENT We seek to offer high-quality, organic chocolate bark to those who have difficulty finding satisfaction in ordinary chocolate. Our products promote using only the freshest ingredients, portion control, and sustainability with our unique packaging design.

PURPOSE This book documents the entire process of designing Crave Chocolate Company, from the initial concept to the finalized product.

BIOMIMICRY CASE STUDIES The unique properties of Tree bark and bird beaks were studied as sources of inspiration for the company identity and packaging design of Crave. The tree bark inspired the use of 100% organic ingredients in all Crave products and the use of an atomic layer deposited aluminum oxide coating.

PRELIMINARY SKETCHES I chose to name the company â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Craveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to exemplify the desirability of the chocolate. It is also common for people, especially women, to say that they are craving chocolate, so the name is also able to draw reference to that saying. As I was sketching out ideas for the logo, I focused on being able to portray the brand as chocolate bark, not a normal chocolate company or a chocolate bar. This led to the use of more organic shapes, cracked chocolate, and chocolate bits. I also made a few iterations of stacked chocolate pieces as a reference to how chocolate bark is usually seen. At this point I was still unsure of whether to portray the brand as elegant or more fun and casual, so I created a variety of designs for different branding directions. The packaging sketches seen on the bottom of Fig. 2 are a result of my attempt to have a sense of my packaging design as I created the brand. My packaging ended up changing completely, but thinking about this in the beginning helped me establish a general branding direction for Crave. Fig. 1: Logo sketches

Fig. 2: Logo and preliminary packaging sketches

DIGITAL ITERATIONS AND REFINEMENT

Fig. 3: Digital logo iterations

I recreated the preliminary sketches on the computer to get a better sense of which one worked best. While designing my logo, I knew that I wanted to create an elegant brand identity with both an interesting logo and logotype to allow for variety. Stylizing text can result in a design that is completely exclusive to that company and cannot be easily replicated, so I kept that in mind as I conceptualized Craveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s branding. The second two logos in Fig. 3 are variations of the first, and I made them thinking that they could be used for different purposes, flavors, or sets.

EXPERIMENTING WITH TYPEFACES

Fig. 4: Typeface options

I experimented with several typefaces, keeping an open mind to both sans serifs and serifs. Sans serifs allowed for more of a modern aesthetic, while serifs offered a stronger sense of history and tradition. Gill Sans caught my eye for presenting a friendly, yet elegant and modern brand.

EXPERIMENTING WITH COLORS With Crave being a chocolate company, it was important for the brand colors to look appetizing. The organic products offered and the environment-friendly mission of the company also warranted a neutral color palette. This led me to experiment with both warm and cool toned browns as well as using another color for the negative space in the logo.

Fig. 5: Digital logo iterations

LOGO SUBMITTED FOR CRITIQUE After critique in which people said that they could not see the relationship between the logo and chocolate bark, I increased the variations in the line widths throughout my design. This made them appear more natural and bear a stronger resemblance to the actual product.

FINAL LOGO, COLOR, & TYPEFACES

GILL SANS - Headlines Garamond 3 LT Std - Body text Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

The logotype is stylized to resemble broken chocolate bits. Because it is unique (not simply a the company name written in a typeface), the logotype can also be used on its own in situations where it is crucial to have the company name. I also refined the logo variations I made, which I will be referring to as the “cracked logo” and the “melted logo”. As seen in Fig. 3, the cracked logo was initially designed as a bite taken out of the chocolate, but I redesigned it because the aesthetic did not match the rest of the brand; it looked more like cheap chocolate instead of luxurious chocolate. The additional cracks now represent more chocolate as well as an increased familiarity of Crave’s brand, so logo is used to identify mid-tier employees in the company, such as branch managers. It is also used on the larger size packaging that Crave offers. The melted logo was inspired by the feeling of craving something so much to the point one starts to drool. Thus, this mark represents the highest-ranking employees, such as chief executives and directors. It is also used on Crave gift bags and gift sets. The new brand colors were directly inspired by dark chocolate and caramel, two ingredients that are in the caramel almond flavor that I made for Crave. When I gave out the different chocolate flavors I made to my friends, this and the peppermint bark received the most love. As caramel almond is the one with colors closest to commonly seen chocolate, I chose to use the caramel shade, whose warmth presents a rich and appetizing image, as the main brand color. However, the logo will primarily be used in the form of a copper foiled version of that shade on various marketing materials to add a touch of elegance.

01. CRAVE LOGO

SPECIFICATIONS This is the standard Crave logo that is the most immediate representation of our company and brand to the world. As it is the hero image of our identity, it must be used in the proper forms. Since Crave is a new brand, it would be in our best interest to present the logo icon and type together so that so that consumers become familiar with them. This will allow us the flexibility to use only the logotype or icon in the future when we are more established.

1 in.

This logo can be scaled to any size as long as the proportions are maintained. Never use this logo in any size less than one inch. If used at one inch, the logotype should be switched out for a solid â&#x20AC;&#x153;CRAVEâ&#x20AC;? in Gill sans, all caps (as shown to the left of the large logo). When possible, the foiled logo should used on both digital and printed materials, as it heightens the elegance and value of our brand. The monotone logo will still be accessible as a last resort if need be, but in most situations, it should not have to be used.

ICON This image part of the standard logo can be used by itself as a graphic element or as a subtle representation of our brand. It can be applied in many of our marketing materials, such as gift bags, t-shirts, and business system items.

LOGOTYPE Our logotype is designed using Gill Sans semi-bold, but is stylized to represent bark pieces or broken chocolate bits. Because the letters are â&#x20AC;&#x153;brokenâ&#x20AC;?, this logo should not be used at the size of one inch or smaller. In those situations, be sure to switch it to the normal, unstylized version of Gill Sans.

APPROPRIATE USAGE

*these ratios and guidelines also apply to the other variations of the logos

Standard: These are the guidelines for applying the logo on web and printed materials. These rules must always be followed unless the bookmark style is used instead. The logo can be scaled to any size, as long as it stays proportionate. The outlined ‘crave’ indicates the amount of space that needs to be left around the logo and other information, unless the other information is meant to go directly underneath ‘crave’ with a line separating the two.

Bookmark: Our “bookmark” style follows the same spacing proportions as the standard format, but the top of our logo touches the edge of whatever it is being applied to. This is demonstrated in the design of our letterhead and envelopes in our business system.

LOGO VARIATIONS There are two variations of the logo that will be used regularly in our brand in both commercial and business applications. The “cracked” version indicates both the large sized bark unit as well as the middle tier of hierarchy in the company. The “melted” logo is used to represent gift sets and the highest ranking people in the company, such as directors and chief executives.

INAPPROPRIATE USAGE

Rotated

Horizontal

Flipped

Incorrect Color

Squished

Cropped

Distorted Proportions

Stretched

TYPOGRAPHY Headings:

Gill Sans SemiBold ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 ~`!@#$%^&&*()_+=\|{}[]’”;:?/.><.

Body Copy:

Garamond 3 LT Std — 12pt ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890 ~`!@#$%^&&*()_+=\|{}[]’”;:?/.><.

Logotype:

GILL SANS REGULAR (all caps)

BRAND COLORS Caramel Brown C0 M43 Y68 K28 R72 G41 B23 #B8693B Dark Brown C0 M53 Y62 K74 R26 G12 B10 #421F19

Copper Foil Texture This texture can be used on various branding materials for Crave instead of the main brand color to enhance the elegant and luxurious image of the company. It can be used as a clipping mask for text and on either a white or dark background.

Light Cream C0 M7 Y11 K0 R100 G93 B89 #FFF3ED

ABCEDFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890 ~`!@#$%^&&*()_+=\|{}[]’”;:?/.><. stylized with cracks, but when smaller than one inch, use the unstylized text.

CURRENT FLAVOR COLORS Light Green—Peanut Butter C29 M0 Y65 K0 R189 G218 B127 #BDDA7F Sky Blue—Cookie Butter C51 M6 Y0 K1 R110 G193 B234 #421F19 Coral Red—Peppermint C0 M77 Y55 K1 R241 G97 B98 #f16162

02. BUSINESS SYSTEM The company business system consists of: • letterhead and #10 envelope • business card • notebook and pencil

0.718 in.

BACK (OPEN)

1.25 in.

BACK (CLOSED)

0.718 in.

1.625 in.

0.703 in.

1.266 in.

0.234 in.

1.266 in.

LETTERHEAD: 8.5”x11”

#10 ENVELOPE: 4.12”x9.5”

The Crave Chocolate Company letterhead uses the full logo in bookmark form and becomes the basis of the alignment of the rest of the contents of the letter.

Crave uses a standard no. 10 envelope that opens vertically. The design of the flap has been stylized to be similar to the top left corner piece of the logo design. The flap is sealed shut by a sticker, which is simply the logo.

0.6719 in.

1.797 in.

0.3594 in.

1.266 in.

BUSINESS CARDS: 2â&#x20AC;?x3.5â&#x20AC;? The design of our business cards follow the vertical aesthetic of our logo. We have three card variations for our employees that use the different logos to correspond to their level of position in the company. Please note the differences between each version: the logos and the arrow/triangle on the back between the name and contact information. As the employeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s position gets higher, the arrow becomes a triangle and is then filled. *Elements that should be printed in a copper foil: logo icon on the front, logotype on the back, line after the name, and the arrow/triangle. If foil option not available, simply print these elements in our main brand color.

03. MARKETING

This section clearly outlines the various marketing strategies and platforms that our company will utilize to establish our brand. These designs must be followed; any and all modifications must be approved by the graphic design team.

STORE SIGNS All of our store signs are square and show the logo in its bookmark form and on top of a dark brown background. It is imperative to always use the full logo on store signs, as we want to attract any curious customer and reinforce our brand image in the minds of those who already know us.

LARGE BILLBOARDS (HORIZONTAL) These large billboards are often seen in areas similar to where the large posters (right) would be: large plazas, malls, or outlets. With the regular high number of people these kinds of places attract, having our posters put up on the billboards will give us more coverage and exposure.

The guidelines for these billboards are similar to those for the large vertical posters. They should display our four main flavors as well as the company slogan.

LARGE POSTERS (VERTICAL)

BUS STOP POSTER ADVERTISEMENT

Large vertical posters can be seen in a variety of places, such as malls (inside and outside), plazas, and other urban areas. Although they are similar in proportion/shape as the bus stop poster advertisements, the two should generally not have overlapping designs. These large posters and billboards show some of the different flavors we offer.

Our bus stop posters are made up of our two main brand colors and display the complete logo, along with “gourmet chocolate bark” to ensure clarity of what our company is. Our slogan “you’ll bite more than you’ll bark” is also included directly below the logo, followed by our contact information that lines the bottom of the poster.

SEMI TRUCK DELIVERY Semi trucks will be our main mode of transportation to deliver our products to store locations after the arrival of a large shipment. Our full logo will be displayed on the back in its bookmark form. The side of the truck will only show the logotype with â&#x20AC;&#x153;gourmet chocolate barkâ&#x20AC;? and our contact information.

All the information shown on these trucks needs to be displayed at a large enough size for other drivers on the road to read at a glance.

SHOPPING BAG: WHITE This is the regular shopping bag that will be given to customers after they make their purchase of 3+ single bark units. However, it is not used for gift or value sets. The Crave logo is printed in copper foil and placed in the center.

GIFT BAG: DARK BROWN This luxurious gift bag is available to those who purchase our gift sets or large amounts of our products. The â&#x20AC;&#x153;meltedâ&#x20AC;? logo variation is printed on the center front in foil and there is a satin copper paper lining the inside.

WEBSITE: DESKTOP & MOBILE Our website design is fully functional on these platforms: desktop, laptop, tablet, and smartphone. The logotype is primarily used on the site instead of the icon in order to save space and be consistent with the horizontal navigation bar.

The homepage will feature a slideshow of the most recent and most popular products and promotions. On desktops/laptops, directly below these photos are our signature phrase and company contact information. On mobile platforms, our company mission is displayed below our catchphrase.

APPAREL T-shirts can be given out as promotional material to employees and to the general public at various events. Our logo icon is used on the front as a small, chic symbol on the upper left chest, and our signature phrase is shown on the back.

For employees, the logo icon will match the system of using the different versions of the logo to represent different levels of hierarchy in the company.

CREATIVE BRIEF NEEDS Chocolate bark is a distinctive product from the standard chocolate bar. However, there is a severe lack of practical packaging designs for the product. It always seems to be dumped into a large plastic tub or resealable bag, making it difficult to eat on the go, a crucial point to keep in mind for a snacking product. If it happens to melt, it becomes one big chunk of chocolate. Furthermore, there is no sense of portion control due to the large container sizes. The new packaging needs to be sturdy, compact, water and thermal resistant, and hold the chocolate flat in order to provide a sufficient solution to these problems.

PROJECT OBJECTIVE The shape of the packaging will be capable of being stacked and arranged in alternating ways to make the best use of whatever shelf space is available. It will be slim, light, and sturdy in order to be easy to take on the go without allowing the chocolate inside to break. It is also crucial for the container to be easily resealable so that the consumer does not feel pressured to finish all the bark pieces in one sitting. The chocolate inside is wrapped and can easily be slid out. To support the organic, eco-friendly mission of the company, the packaging should be made from recyclable material.

BACKGROUND Chocolate has a long consumption history, but today it is mostly bought by those that plan to enjoy it by themselves or by those that are looking for delicious gifts for their friends, family, and coworkers to enjoy. Chocolate bark, for the most part, has been produced and marketed towards a more informal direction and is primarily presented as snacking chocolate. However, CRAVE seeks to reintroduce it as a high-end, artisan chocolate that will have the same target audience as brands like Godiva and Ghirardelli, yet still appeal to the younger crowd with its modern design and satisfying taste.

MESSAGE Crave gourmet chocolate bark: You’ll bite more than you’ll bark. This is the primary marketing tagline that will be used on various billboards and advertisements to grab people’s interest and attention. More taglines can be made in the future, but they must be short and memorable.

AUDIENCE PROJECT STRATEGY When completed, the product can be sold as individual units offered in both small and large sizes, but if the customer buys in bulk, a boxed set will be available. These sets will range from only one type of chocolate to a variety of flavors. Various gifting options will also be available for consumers that want to give our chocolates to family and friends on any occasion. Each individual small package will be 4.36 inches in length, 1.875 inches in width, and 1 inch in height. The larger units are simply doubled in width. There will be four standard flavors: caramel almond (main flavor), peppermint, peanut butter cup, and cookie butter. Other promotional materials will include posters, brochures, and magazine ads for advertising and merchandise such as gift cards and bags. CRAVE products will be sold in both department stores as individual units and in its own store that will showcase the variety of goods and services it has to offer.

• Age: 23-60 • Gender: primarily women, since studies show that women are more

inclined to crave and buy chocolate versus men. • Economic/financial status: people who are employed and have the means to spend extra money on chocolate. • Distribution area: local, regional, national. Start off in San Francisco Bay Area, California before expanding to southern California and the East Coast.

PRELIMINARY SKETCHES When I first chose chocolate bark as the product I wanted to design for, I tried coming up with ideas for the packaging at the same time so that I would not get stuck later down the road. My initial idea (seen in the bottom half of fig. 1) came from a shape in my logo that looks similar to an upper lip. I played around with the curves and ended up with a simple, rectangular, wavy design. It reminded me of tree bark, my biomimicry study, and the units seemed like they would stack well in an alternating way, similar to roof tiles. However, after prototyping it, I found that the design had too many flaws: it did not relate to my biomimicry, did not match with my creative brief, was difficult to design for and create because of its irregular shape, and was wasteful with materials. So I went back to square one asking myself â&#x20AC;&#x153;what kind of packaging would truly be best for chocolate bark?â&#x20AC;? I kept that as my focus, staying true to my creative brief and mission statement.

Fig. 1: Logo and packaging sketches.

Fig. 2: Some other packaging ideas I had that were more generic.

REWORKED DESIGN I found it best for the chocolate to sit horizontally flat so that the individual small bark pieces would not be able to move around. This then allowed the package to be flatter and more rectangular to be easier to slip into a bag. Fig. 4 shows the iterations of this in the form of a parallelogram, the shape I thought matched best with the criteria above.

ATOMIC LAYER DEPOSITION While redesigning the shape, I also looked into various materials that could be used, as the shape is only the protective shell and the material is what is most effective in achieving and meeting the needs and properties necessary to maintain the productâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s optimal condition. I came across Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), a technique based on repeated cycles of self-limiting reactions between precursor gases and a solid surface. It can be specifically used to create a thin aluminum oxide coating in the nanometer scale that is barely noticeable but can add significant properties to ordinary materials such as paper or board. The thickness can be very precisely adjusted to the needs of the particular application. If used in packaging to replace aluminum foil, it will siginicantly reduce waste while still being recyclable, unlike Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) that is the most commonly used method to coat plastic packaging materials. The ALD aluminum oxide coating is brittle and needs to be sealed with a polymer, but this does not impair its functions in any way. Lining the inside of my packaging with this coating will provide enhanced oxygen and moisture protection and helps to extend shelf life. It also keeps odors and aromas out and regulates the temperature inside the package, making it harder for the chocolate to melt. This material fulfills a majority of the needs for chocolate while also relating to my biomimicry of tree bark, where I found that the bark of different trees have different properties depending on its surrounding environment. In the same way, ALD meets the specific needs of chocolate, such as being kept dry, cool, and away from oxygen, to ensure a lengthy shelf life. ALD sources: https://www.google.com/patents/WO2010037906A1?cl=en http://www.cellulosechemtechnol.ro/pdf/CCT7-8(2015)/p.575-585.pdf http://www.understandingnano.com/atomic-layer-deposition-packaging-coating.html

Fig. 3: Going back to square one trying to reidentify the actual needs of the packaging and coming up with new shapes and modular forms.

Fig. 4: Came to the conclusion of making the packaging in the shape of a parallelogram with a shelf inside separating the chocolates. More refinements were made afterwards through multiple prototypes.

PROTOTYPING Throughout the process of designing the packaging, I created many prototypes that helped me quickly identify the problems with my designs. There are many more that I have not shown here, but I have condensed the process into the most important â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;stagesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in which I found the largest problems or made the most changes.

Fig. 5: Very first prototypes I did for the packaging that led to those shown in Fig. 7 (right). The first one in the top left corner was the initial design that I wanted to work with. The other models in this photo show the process of redesigning the packaging.

Fig. 6: Prototypes of display shelf in order from the first to the final product. Initially wanted to make it a zig zag but found that to be unstable and difficult to match the angles of the parallelogram. Eventually changed it to a design with slots for it to slip into.

PROTOTYPE REFINEMENT Fig. 7: More finalized prototypes made from chip board

First prototype iteration of the reworked design with black and white label printout on top to gain a better feeling of what the final product would look like. Discovered the interior shelf concept was not user friendly and a waste of materials. Professor also suggested to flip the angles of the parallelogram to be more suited for a vertical product display shelf.

Second round of prototyping: refined label design and printed in color to see how well colors stood out. Also made the foil lining to see how it would work. Did not construct the inner shelf during this round in order to focus on other parts of construction.

Also made during second round of prototyping: this was the first prototype of the larger size. Found that the dimensions of some areas needed to be revised to account for the larger surface area. Found the opening inner tabs to be awkward, so I halved the length of these parts on both the small and larger units.

Decided to completely toss the shelf idea and simply have the chocolates sit on top of each other since they will be wrapped separately anyways. Slimmed down the box to account for this change, but later realized that it needed to be thicker than before after I tried putting chocolate in it.

Finished prototype, complete with inner foil lining and and the refined label design.

LABEL DESIGN In order to maintain a cohesive brand image, Craveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s label designs all consist of the main three colors of the company: caramel brown, dark brown, and cream. The various flavors are represented by the subtle bar color under â&#x20AC;&#x153;Craveâ&#x20AC;? on the front of each package. The nutrition label is kept white for the sake of readability. I initially wanted to incorporate patterns that represented each flavor, but they were difficult to identify and did not match the elegant image I had already built for Crave. This idea ended up being replaced by the company logotype on the sides of the packaging.

FINAL PRODUCT The components of the final packaging consist of an inner lining of aluminum oxide that helps maintain the temperature inside and keep out oxygen, water, and other aromas. There are two â&#x20AC;&#x153;layersâ&#x20AC;? of bark inside that are wrapped separately with parchment paper. The two different unit sizes offered provide a compact option for consumers to take onthe-go as well as a larger sizes that can be given to others as a gift.

INTRODUCTION

METHODOLOGY

EVALUATION

Crave Chocolate Co aims to transform chocolate bark from a casual snack to a high-end, luxury product. Although we are selling chocolate, which is generally not considered to be healthy, we promote healthier habits by using organic ingredients and packaging our chocolate in single units that allow for portion control. The designer is responsible for the creation of a strong and cohesive brand identity and a unique packaging design made out of recyclable materials.

YEAR ONE: Department and organic grocery stores.

In order to track our progress and ensure that our objectives are met, each of the different teams in our company will have weekly meetings. Then the leaders of these teams will come together with the other executives of the company every three weeks and give a report about the progress they have made. This will allow everyone to be on the same page about where other teams are at with regards to project timelines. Surveys will be conducted online and with in-store purchases by utilizing a reward system for the customers if they complete a survey. This could be done by a point-based system or by giving them an immediate discount on their purchase.

Second half of the year: website store launch. The company will rely on lots of social media advertising and street billboards. Various marketing teams—social media, sales associates, will be actively working together to increase awareness about Crave as a company and build its reputation.

YEAR TWO: New flavor and merchandise development, Increase production

PROBLEM STATEMENT There is a wide variety of chocolate products today, but chocolate bark remains as one of the most unique because of its high customizability. It is often marketed as a snacking chocolate but existing packaging designs fail to take into consideration that many people would like to take it on the go without having to worry about the chocolate melting or being crushed in their bag. Crave solves this problem by primarily selling chocolate bark in single units of two sizes: a large and a small. Each unit has two individually wrapped layers of bark inside. The inside of the packaging is also lined with an aluminum oxide coating that helps maintain the temperature and keep out oxygen, aromas, and water. In addition, cocoa is amongst the highest ranking pesticide-grown crops, meaning that a majority of chocolate on the market retains some of that residue. This should not be enough to cause any major harm to our health as consumers, but pesticides have a more severe effect on farmers that use them on a regular basis. Thus, Crave products only use wholesome, organic ingredients as a conscious effort to promote health and sustainability as organic farming is also more environmentally friendly.

OBJECTIVES During its first year, Crave will focus on being distributed in numerous department and organic grocery stores, as well as establishing a strong online presence. This will be the main priority before the company begins to work towards new flavors and merchandise. The website will be released as soon as the products are released in stores so that we can direct traffic there through social media posts, but the online store will be launched later on. A huge step and measure of success will be the opening of Crave Chocolate’s very own store. This will provide the perfect platform where there will not be as many limitations regarding the display of our products compared to in grocery or department stores.

If the first year proves to be successful, Crave will expand its factories and increase production. Marketing teams will begin conducting customer surveys to see what kind of flavors they would like to see. After gathering this information, Crave will have its first annual company-wide recipe competition. With employee involvement, teams will be formed and will either develop a general flavor idea from the surveys or create their own. The winning recipe will go under further refinement after the competition and be released the next year. Not only does this help Crave expand its product line, but fosters a pride of ownership within employees in being part of the company. Crave will also be creating more product ideas—gift cards, gift sets, flavor mixing-and-matching for the large size units—that will be available online and in its own store.

PROJECT SUMMARY Crave Chocolate Co. is confident that our gourmet, organic chocolate bark will be successful with the rise of sustainable design and healthy eating. Our artistic take on bark reinvents the conventional idea of a product that is widely viewed as an informal snack. The result of this project is a product and company that stands out from its competitors by putting an emphasis on the well-being of not only our customers, but also the sources that provide us with the means to bring our product to the world. Crave Chocolate Co. will continue to make informed decisions that are backed up with thorough research on materials, biomimicry, marketing strategy, and user testing to continue to offer products of only the highest quality.

YEAR THREE: Crave’s own store, New flavor launch Increasing product demand and interest will pave the way for Crave to be able to set up its own store. It will most likely be in a mall (such as Valley Fair Mall in San Jose, CA because that is a more high end shopping area which will most likely have more of our target audience), as there are always large crowds of people there and space for us to put up poster advertisements around the mall. As people are shopping, they may want to take a snacking break or purchase some chocolate to go along with their gifts during the holiday seasons.

YEAR FOUR: User Testing Analysis; Expand into East Coast markets. User testing should be conducted regularly from the time the products first launch, but the fourth year is when the data will be thoroughly analyzed and used to inform our existing packaging designs. Our design team will then decide what kind of changes need to be made to our packaging in order to improve the experiences of our customers.

Timothea Wang DES 116 | Winter â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;17 | Gale Okumura