Packaging Studio - Blog Posts

Day Nine - Blog Post #11

Project 2 Creative Brief: Granola Package Design for Good Life Juice

Objectives 

My goal is to create a sustainable series of packages for Good Life Juice’s new Granola line that stays true to the brand while being economically responsible for the producer (production costs and impact) and the environment. It should reflect Good Life Juice’s brand while being design smart. By that I mean that the design should be lasting and not follow trends, it should be something that my client can use for many years. I want to make something that will appeal to both men and women because my client said that 80% of her current clientele is female. Interestingly, 75% of her workforce is also female and that is something I want to showcase with the packaging as well. 

The goal isn’t to scare men away from it though. So we’re looking for something more in the middle. My client also specified that she would like the packaging to be ‘classy, beautiful and femme’. 

I already know that I want to make something super environmentally friendly that will match the way Good Life presents itself and strives to be. I found a Canadian Website that prints on seed paper and that’s a route I would really like to go down.

I also want to focus on the life cycle of the granola and the juice pulp involved in it. From start to finish, this granola is environmentally involved and I think this story is important. My client also mentioned that if my package contains plastic, she would like instructions for the user on how to recycle the plastic so that it is eco-responsible as a package and I think that’s really something I’d like to include if I go that route.

Audience

My client is expecting a wider range audience than she usually gets for her juices so I’m going to say that my audience ranges from the late twenties to people in their mid-sixties who are focused on their health and do not mind spending a little bit more on their granola! I have my parents as the perfect test audience as they are both on a health kick right now and have started to take an interest in good design because of my field of study.

In my head, I have three basic users I want to design for. Here is a quick set of notes on each:

Karen Whitmarsh - 28

Interests include maintaining mental and physical health through juice cleanses, yoga and daily exercise. She shops at Whole Foods because she likes buying locally and organic. She’s on the market for a new granola and already drink Good Life Juice. She’s considered GLJ’s granola before but has yet to buy it because the package underwhelms her in comparison to some of the other more sustainable packaging found at Whole Foods.

Jordan Bickeridge - 35

Jordan spent most of his twenties binge drinking at parties, smoking cigarettes and not really worrying about his health and now regrets it. He is brand new to the world of health foods and just wants to buy a granola that will be healthy for him and is worth his money. He wants to go into the granola/cereal aisle at Whole Foods and just grab a package probably based on what it says. 

Elia Yang - 62

Elia has been eating raw and organic for the last five years and has finally gotten her wife on board with her. The two of them love drinking smoothies in the morning and are now looking for a filling snack that also satisfies their sweet tooth. They read online that granola was a great thing to just toss in their purse. Both of them love pretty packaging but hate waste and will likely buy packaging that appeals to them environmentally as well as aesthetically. 

As you can see, this is a pretty wide range but that was the vibe I got from our client meeting today. I think it will be a fun challenge to meet these audience expectations.

Desired Response

I feel happy buying this granola because I know that it is eco-friendly and has the ingredients I want from it to make me feel healthy and whole. 

Creative Considerations

This is NOT Mom n’ Pop’s granola. The packaging must be beautiful, high-end and gorgeous. 

My client wants to be transparent with her customers, she hates it when packages say things like ‘all-natural’ and hates pushy packages.

HAS TO BE CLASSY.

No trends, no geometry, chevrons or primary colours as per my client’s taste.

Must be careful of food packaging regulations to Canada standards.

The packaging must have the essence of the Good Life Juice brand.

I can’t go overboard with materials, it needs to be affordable for my client. 

The package should be sustainable but not look ‘hokey’. 

Day Eight - Blog Post #10

Coombs Country Market Field Trip

We went on a field trip to Coombs today to visit their grocery store. Coombs has a lot of really neat packages in their store because they sell items that come from all over the world! There were beautiful Balsamic bottles, chocolate bars, yoghurt packages and so much more! However, we were there with a simple enough goal and I wasn’t to get distracted, although in the end, it happened. We can blame the edible glitter and handmade paper for that!

Anyway, the goal was to find two sets of a package series that we could draw inspiration from and use as an example for our next project. We’re supposed to design a box for Granola for this delicious, local-based fresh juice company.

Series #1: Fee Brothers Bitters

How is the branding consistent across all of the packages?

While the brand’s colour changes, the layout of the packages remains consistent. The type, logo, paper and sticker along the top are all the same. The only thing that changes in fact, is the colour. Even then, the colours are in the same tones. Even with just a quick glance at the shelf, someone could register that they’re a series.

How does the design differentiate amongst “flavours”?  

The design does not differ much, the only thing I did find is that on some of the bottles, the lid had a different colour to denote flavour as well. However, this wasn’t completely consistent so it was hard to say what it meant completely, which was a small issue in the concept overall.

What is the brand concept?  

The concept for this brand seems to be higher end and meant to make the audience feel like it is an old-fashioned product. It is wrapped in paper to give it this illusion of being vintage and the sticker that runs around the top displays the portraits of what one must assume are the Fee Brothers. What’s fun about is that you can’t see the liquid inside until you open and unwrap the bottle, giving it the feeling of something you might be able to present as a gift.

Other thoughts?

I’m kind of curious to see what the bottle looks like underneath the paper and was seriously considering buying a bottle just to check. It’d be cool if this product was so easily recycled by just removing the label and bringing the glass in! While I want to create something consistent, I also want to make sure that I focus on the environment. I’m already thinking about what I might do to make the package sustainable and within my client’s budget. I like the idea of glass.

Series #2: Whittaker’s Chocolate.

How is the branding consistent across all of the packages?

Whittakers is a really neat brand because while there are a lot of flavours, the Whittakers chocolate brand is unmistakable. I first came across it in New Zealand, where it is manufactured and proudly second only after Cadbury chocolate. Every single package is a beautiful shade of gold in a paper wrap and when opened, another foil wrap of gold protects the chocolate inside. The branding remains consistent by keeping the logo at the top of the package, followed by the chocolate information and name.

How does the design differentiate amongst “flavours”?  

There is always a block of chocolate at the bottom but it is always illustrated with the correct flavour profile per package. Each flavour also has a unique font colour. Otherwise, the rest of the package remains the same.

What is the brand concept?  

The concept for the brand is definitely meant to be luxurious, denoted by the gold wrap colour. The font tells us that it is also meant to be old-fashioned. Knowing New Zealand, I know how proud they are of their heritage and this chocolate is meant to draw on that. The user should feel that when they are picking up this block at the grocery store, they feel like they’re in a lovely old candy shop.

Other thoughts?

I was wondering if I was drawn to this series because of the nostalgia I felt when looking at it, you can’t count on one hand the amount of these bars I got through when I lived there! However, you can tell just by the image that this is a really strong series. There is no question that they are linked and I think the key to that is only changing a small part of the package to reflect the different flavours. The goal is definitely to have the user know without question that the two separate items that they are holding are linked.