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15 years ago
Essay
Coco Pops Packaging Design
Packaging is not only used for concealing the product, it is also a vital tool for marketing the product and enticing possible consumers to buy the product. It can also be used to identify and attract the target audience. There are many aspects to the design of packaging and I will be looking at two of the main elements; Graphics and Typography.
As I have chosen to create a box for Cereal I will look at the two elements within the design of this product, mainly focusing on children’s cereal boxes, as this is my target audience. The reason I chose this target audience is because I like the character design and use of colours in this genre. I will start off by looking at the importance and connotations behind the design of the packaging.
As it was one of my childhood favourites I will focus on one main brand to analyse its design elements. I will look at one of the most popular cereals in the UK, Kellogg’s Coco Pops.
Coco Pops are a good example of children cereal as they have a lot of the typical conventions used to attract their target audience. As it is a children’s cereal they have used techniques such as colour, use of fonts, layout and character designs to portray a fun looking package. The colours they have used are clever, as they have wanted to reflect the chocolaty flavour of the cereal they have used brown for the main text but to make it stand out and attract kids they have used a bright contrasting yellow for the background.
It is important to make sure that the packaging stands out on the shelf in the supermarket, because it could look amazing and detailed up close but if it doesn’t attract the attention of the customer it is not doing its job.
I feel the character design for this specific cereal is pretty good, as the use of colours helps incorporate coco the monkey into the design. The connotations of the monkey are that he’s a bit cheeky and very playful. The fact that he is wearing a cap makes him sort of cool and because its blue it also contrasts the yellow and it helps widen the colour palette to incorporate in any further advertisement they may want to add.
The use of typography helps towards the overall marketing as the product name is in a bubbly rounded font, which stands out from the background. It’s almost balloon looking and has a thin white stroke and slight drop shadow to make it stand out even more. This font helps to come across clear to the customer but it also gives a feeling of fun as it implies the shape of balloons. I think this is nice use of font, as it will help kids relate to the fun involved with it and also to attract adults, as that is something they buy for kids. Also a key use of typography is within the Kellogg’s logo, it is a great logo as it does the job intended. It is a very clear logo with nice use of lettering and colour. I think the font is very good as it also symbolizes fun with the rounded edges; the fact that it’s joined up helps the customer to read through it. This is also helped by the fact that the letters are tilted from left to right. This helps guide the eye along the design and the ends of the g’s direct you down to the main section if it wasn’t on first glance. I think the use of colour is very good as this colour red stands out on most other colours.
Another integral part of kids cereal design is the free gift. I think this is one of the most important parts as kids love their toys, I think that the use of gift in this instance is effective as it is cashing in on the kids love of art attack (obviously slightly old cereal). I think it is eye catching as it attracts the audience mainly with the art attack logo and the ‘WIN’ in bold red with white stroke. The terminology used is trying to interact with kids as well ‘ cool prizes’.
In conclusion to this essay I feel that I have looked into the key elements of the Coco Pops design. I feel I have assessed the individual elements and looked at the reasons why it is so popular. I will take this on board when creating my own cereal.
Packaging is not only used for concealing the product, it is also a vital tool for marketing the product and enticing possible consumers to buy the product. It can also be used to identify and attract the target audience. There are many aspects to the design of packaging and I will be looking at two of the main elements; Graphics and Typography.
As I have chosen to create a box for Cereal I will look at the two elements within the design of this product, mainly focusing on children’s cereal boxes, as this is my target audience. The reason I chose this target audience is because I like the character design and use of colours in this genre. I will start off by looking at the importance and connotations behind the design of the packaging.
As it was one of my childhood favourites I will focus on one main brand to analyse its design elements. I will look at one of the most popular cereals in the UK, Kellogg’s Coco Pops.
Coco Pops are a good example of children cereal as they have a lot of the typical conventions used to attract their target audience. As it is a children’s cereal they have used techniques such as colour, use of fonts, layout and character designs to portray a fun looking package. The colours they have used are clever, as they have wanted to reflect the chocolaty flavour of the cereal they have used brown for the main text but to make it stand out and attract kids they have used a bright contrasting yellow for the background.It is important to make sure that the packaging stands out on the shelf in the supermarket, because it could look amazing and detailed up close but if it doesn’t attract the attention of the customer it is not doing its job.
I feel the character design for this specific cereal is pretty good, as the use of colours helps incorporate coco the monkey into the design. The connotations of the monkey are that he’s a bit cheeky and very playful. The fact that he is wearing a cap makes him sort of cool and because its blue it also contrasts the yellow and it helps widen the colour palette to incorporate in any further advertisement they may want to add.
The use of typography helps towards the overall marketing as the product name is in a bubbly rounded font, which stands out from the background. It’s almost balloon looking and has a thin white stroke and slight drop shadow to make it stand out even more. This font helps to come across clear to the customer but it also gives a feeling of fun as it implies the shape of balloons. I think this is nice use of font, as it will help kids relate to the fun involved with it and also to attract adults, as that is something they buy for kids. Also a key use of typography is within the Kellogg’s logo, it is a great logo as it does the job intended. It is a very clear logo with nice use of lettering and colour. I think the font is very good as it also symbolizes fun with the rounded edges; the fact that it’s joined up helps the customer to read through it. This is also helped by the fact that the letters are tilted from left to right. This helps guide the eye along the design and the ends of the g’s direct you down to the main section if it wasn’t on first glance. I think the use of colour is very good as this colour red stands out on most other colours.
Another integral part of kids cereal design is the free gift. I think this is one of the most important parts as kids love their toys, I think that the use of gift in this instance is effective as it is cashing in on the kids love of art attack (obviously slightly old cereal). I think it is eye catching as it attracts the audience mainly with the art attack logo and the ‘WIN’ in bold red with white stroke. The terminology used is trying to interact with kids as well ‘ cool prizes’.
In conclusion to this essay I feel that I have looked into the key elements of the Coco Pops design. I feel I have assessed the individual elements and looked at the reasons why it is so popular. I will take this on board when creating my own cereal.
Character design
Here are a few sketches for my character design. I decided to stick with a favourite of mine which is Jamie Hewletts Murdoc from Gorillaz. Heres the start of my tracing
Change of plan
I realised i have to use my name through out so i am going to elaborate on the roarke n rolls idea and create a music based cereal.
Sketches
As i have decided to do cereal now i have started to do some sketches for a few ideas i have had. The idea i like most at the moment is Cowboy Crunch. I thought it would be a good idea as kids loves cowboys, as with the Milky bar kid it makes a good mascot.
I have done an initial sketch for the layout and two main characters one a young cowboy and one a cactus. I got this idea from Golden Nuggets in which they have the gold miner and his donkey friend. I thought this could progress to be a good idea as i could elaborate on the theme by having horseshoe shaped cereal and giving away a free cowboy themed gift.
I have done an initial sketch for the layout and two main characters one a young cowboy and one a cactus. I got this idea from Golden Nuggets in which they have the gold miner and his donkey friend. I thought this could progress to be a good idea as i could elaborate on the theme by having horseshoe shaped cereal and giving away a free cowboy themed gift.
Cereal Killers
Whilst doing research on cereals I have come across this book called Cereal Killers. It is a book containing a collection of illustrators and designers interpretation of cereal designs. There are a fair few which are really quite good but i have selected a few which i like to post.
Other Packaging...
In this post I will look at other possibilities for my 'packaging yourself' project. I have a selection of different products to see if I want to take them further in terms of my own designs and ideas.
As I have a love for trainers an obvious one which came into mind was a shoe box for a pair of trainers. I particularly like the way adidas have used simple colours and their branding 3 stripes to create this well known shoe box. I think it would be an interesting packaging area to look into but i feel it may not be using my AI skills to the fullest and I will not be pushing myself to create an outcome.
Next I have looked at washing powders. Firstly there is the Tescos value washing powder, this is clearly of a lower standard than that of one of the leading brands 'Bold'. I like the design of the bold packaging as they have incorporated water and the circle which may represent the washing machine. I also think that the use of colours are effective as the contrasting colours really stand out and the different tones of blue really help it look like actual water. The font also adds to the brand name as it is actually bold, the slight embossing adds to it further by making it more impacting.
As I have a love for trainers an obvious one which came into mind was a shoe box for a pair of trainers. I particularly like the way adidas have used simple colours and their branding 3 stripes to create this well known shoe box. I think it would be an interesting packaging area to look into but i feel it may not be using my AI skills to the fullest and I will not be pushing myself to create an outcome.
Next I have looked at washing powders. Firstly there is the Tescos value washing powder, this is clearly of a lower standard than that of one of the leading brands 'Bold'. I like the design of the bold packaging as they have incorporated water and the circle which may represent the washing machine. I also think that the use of colours are effective as the contrasting colours really stand out and the different tones of blue really help it look like actual water. The font also adds to the brand name as it is actually bold, the slight embossing adds to it further by making it more impacting.
Market Research
I have started my market research by looking at a selection of cereals by one of the most famous cereal producers, Kellogg's.
Firstly I looked at the American cereal Froot Loops, which is a sort of fruity version of cheerios. The target audience for the majority of these cereals are children this is why they are using bright colours and engaging characters to give the impact on shelves. I will use such techniques in my cereal designs to help draw attention to my cereal apposed to others.
The kelloggs branding is very well thought out and evident throughout the products, they clearly have the same layout of the logo and the line behind which follows along to the nutritional information. It is also evident that all of the packaging has the actual cereal itself on the front, except frosties. This is there to secure the fact that it is cereal and to give the customer an idea of which type if the packaging doesnt do so. For example if the customer was after a healthy cereal they probably wouldnt be looking for colourful sugar coated froot loops. I will look at other packaging to determine which genre of packaging I will produce for my final piece.Second Project: Packaging Yourself
We have received our brief for the second assignment within the Visual Communication bracket. The assignment we have been set is to design a 6 sided box and include your name as the brand. For example create a box of corn flakes and instead of Kellogg's being the brand you have your name. At this early stage in the project I cannot be 100% certain but I am swaying towards making a cereal box as the idea of creating characters and that type of graphics appeals to me. I will be looking at variations of cereal packaging to get some good market knowledge to give me ideas for my own cereal.
Sound in QTVR...
I have found a site which gives a step by step account on how to add sound to a QTVR. It enables you to download a sprite movie in which you can combine your audio and your mov. I have not found the audio that I would be happy with for all of the panoramas. I feel that it would be stupid to add sound just for the sake of it so I have decided against it. I also think that if I got the sound wrong it may ruin the panoramas, I thought that the images give enough tension and atmosphere so I don't think I will add sound.
http://ivrpa.org/blog/495/an_easy_way_to_add_looping_audio
http://ivrpa.org/blog/495/an_easy_way_to_add_looping_audio
Sites used in essay
I have finished my essay now and here are some links that I used to write the account.
QTVR technical
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qtvr
Tourism
http://www.virtualdenmark.dk/vrdjursland/index.html
http://www.iberostar.com/EN/hotel/visitavirtual.asp?codiconc=85&idiocodi=2&publicado=S
Real Estate
http://www.bprowse.com/images/virtual_tours/witek/Living_room.html
Advertisements
http://www.willpearson.co.uk/virtual_tours/seat/index.php
Artistic
http://www.willpearson.co.uk/
QTVR technical
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qtvr
Tourism
http://www.virtualdenmark.dk/vrdjursland/index.html
http://www.iberostar.com/EN/hotel/visitavirtual.asp?codiconc=85&idiocodi=2&publicado=S
Real Estate
http://www.bprowse.com/images/virtual_tours/witek/Living_room.html
Advertisements
http://www.willpearson.co.uk/virtual_tours/seat/index.php
Artistic
http://www.willpearson.co.uk/
My final Jpegs...
Here are my final three images, I am quite pleased with them. I think they may not be as conforming as the other shoots I have done but I feel that I have added a bit of creativity and imagination to the task which I think is always a good thing.
I'll look forward to seeing them in QTVR form....
I'll look forward to seeing them in QTVR form....
Dvd Cover
I thought if I have a little muck about on Photoshop and do a cover it could trigger some ideas. I had an idea to do bed time sort of theme and then I thought of clouds, so I got a few cloud brushes and made myself a nice little cover. I thought of a name aswell, the theme is Dream Land. Anyway here's the cover I came up with:
I decided that the three panoramas are going to be based on different things to do with bed time.
1.Brushing- this will be brushing teeth before bed
2.Falling - falling asleep or just before being a bit scared
3.Nightmare - here I will use some long exposures and masks to give a bit of a scary feel.
I will give a bit of a scary imagination type feel to all of the panoramas, I will take pictures of my sister to portray it from her point of view.
I decided that the three panoramas are going to be based on different things to do with bed time.1.Brushing- this will be brushing teeth before bed
2.Falling - falling asleep or just before being a bit scared
3.Nightmare - here I will use some long exposures and masks to give a bit of a scary feel.
I will give a bit of a scary imagination type feel to all of the panoramas, I will take pictures of my sister to portray it from her point of view.
An inspiration.
http://www.troypaiva.com/index.htmlThis is the site of a photographer I really like. I was looking at his site just out of chance when I realised his work was a similar idea to what we are studying. He has lots of projects on different objects and buildings which are usually abandoned, he uses incredible lighting and long shutter speed techniques to make run down buildings look amazing.
I thought that I could incorporate his style of photography into my idea of bed time sequences. I thought it could work well as the colours give a naivety to the shots and could look nice if they symbolise a child like dream state.
Hmm...
When I was going to bed the other night after a long days stitching, I was looking at the images I had produced and thought to myself these are terrible! I'd looked around the room in class that day and most people were doing similar images of landscapes. And I remembered that last year I did Photography and I never once did a landscape, so why am I doing one now? Maybe it was the easy way out and I was just following suite. I got really annoyed with the images I had produced as they had no creative flair about them and aside from being sport based they didn't have an engaging theme.
I went to bed that night and had a nightmare but couldn't remember what it was about, then it came to me I could do a series of panoramas based around sleeping. for example brushing teeth, having a dream and then waking up. I then realised I had a theme that I could add a bit of creativity into.
Here is a sketch of a layout for one of the panoramas:
I think this would be a nice layout for one of the ideas for the new collection.
I went to bed that night and had a nightmare but couldn't remember what it was about, then it came to me I could do a series of panoramas based around sleeping. for example brushing teeth, having a dream and then waking up. I then realised I had a theme that I could add a bit of creativity into.
Here is a sketch of a layout for one of the panoramas:
I think this would be a nice layout for one of the ideas for the new collection.
A couple more sports...
As my theme is sports I decided to take to more shoots, one at Lewes golf course and one at Priory running track. I have finished one of them and the other is in progress. I feel this sports theme is a bit of a drag and I don't feel that it should be like this for my first project. But I'm going to go with it and see what the final outcomes are like. I think that it's an ok start but we'll see what happens.
Here is the Track:
and the Golf course:
Here is the Track:
and the Golf course:
Second collection...
I decided that the images I had may be a bit bland so I though I would diversify and go to tescos to take some images. I thought it may be a nice location, although it might be hard as there are lots of lines and products which will all need to match up. Here is an example of the struggle I may face if i embark on a panorama in tescos.
I also discovered as the lighting was not as bright as the park I had to adjust the shutter speed. I discovered by doing this I could capture the movement of shoppers and it gave a nice blur which gave the images a bit of atmosphere. I thought I could take this on board with the sports theme and possibly add in some blurred images to look like they're moving.
Here are a few examples:
I think this is an effective way to increase the style of QTVRs as I think they can dilute the creative side of Photography by just having a landscape. I will incorporate this within the rest of this project.
I also discovered as the lighting was not as bright as the park I had to adjust the shutter speed. I discovered by doing this I could capture the movement of shoppers and it gave a nice blur which gave the images a bit of atmosphere. I thought I could take this on board with the sports theme and possibly add in some blurred images to look like they're moving.
Here are a few examples:
I think this is an effective way to increase the style of QTVRs as I think they can dilute the creative side of Photography by just having a landscape. I will incorporate this within the rest of this project.
Initial Shots...
I have shot my first series of images in Lewes near tescos. As I was inspired by the work on the Montreal stadium I decided to take my first shots of the football pitch. I didn't manage to catch a game as I was working on the weekend and there wasn't enough time to go before I went to work. So I have decided to take shots of empty sports venues to portray there part time use. Here is my first stitch:
I quite like the outcome but feel it's rather empty and needs something else to give it an edge. I like the position i have taken it from on the pitch because you can see other parts of the park aswell. I have also taken shots on the pitch from different point which I think will give a different view point of the pitch for each panorama.
Here is another section of the pitch, images shot from the penalty spot. This I am currently working on as you can see. I have been looking at different photographers and I think it would be nice to get a friend or myself to dress up in football kit and pretend to be different players on the pitch. This may be a hard task but I think it will look affective.
I also have a third angle which I have not started yet but think would look affective if I take another shoot to add in action shots.
Here is another section of the pitch, images shot from the penalty spot. This I am currently working on as you can see. I have been looking at different photographers and I think it would be nice to get a friend or myself to dress up in football kit and pretend to be different players on the pitch. This may be a hard task but I think it will look affective.
I also have a third angle which I have not started yet but think would look affective if I take another shoot to add in action shots.
More Research and Ideas
After my last post I have been looking at other panoramas and QTVR's for inspiration for my own versions. I have been looking at Panoramas.dk quite frequently as there are hundreds of different panoramas on there. I particularly have been inspired by the Olympic stadiums as I like the way they capture the moment of particular sports.
http://www.panoramas.dk/2008/olympics/index.html
I particularly like the one of the Montreal stadium as it has people playing football whilst the panorama has been taken. I like the idea of doing this and I may take this into my own work to try and capture a football game.
www.panoramas.dk/2008/olympics/montreal-olympic-stadium.html
http://www.panoramas.dk/2008/olympics/index.html
I particularly like the one of the Montreal stadium as it has people playing football whilst the panorama has been taken. I like the idea of doing this and I may take this into my own work to try and capture a football game.
www.panoramas.dk/2008/olympics/montreal-olympic-stadium.html
Research into QTVR
To get this project to a start i decided to look into QTVR's to find out a bit more about them. As I had only brief knowledge of them prior to this project. I remember seeing them on tourism website to give you an insight into the resort or location you will be visiting.
'QuickTime VR (virtual reality) (also known as QTVR) is a type of image file format supported by Apples QuickTime and the exploration of objects through images taken at multiple viewing angles. It functions as a plugin . It allows the creation and viewing of photographically captured panoramasfor the standalone QuickTime Player, as well as working as a plugin for the QuickTime Web Browser plugin. QuickTime VR will play on Windows computers as well as Apple Macintosh computers.'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QTVR
After looking it up on Wikipedia I felt I had more detailed information on how to create a QTVR. I realised that there were several kinds of QTVR such as:
-Cylindrical (the form we will be outputting)
-Cubic
-Spherical
I also had a brainstorm on what QTVRs might be used for to possibly trigger some ideas to start my project. As I had established before starting this research I already knew that they were used within the tourism industry, I think it is a good way to give the tourist an idea of the destination. When I went on holiday to Tunisia there was a similar VR covering aspects of the resort:
Here is a similar programme but it is not actually QuickTime.
http://www.iberostar.com/EN/hotel/visitavirtual.asp?codiconc=85&idiocodi=2&publicado=S
QTVR's are also used to record an event which is done very well on one of the sites i visited. It is recording New Years Eve on the strike of 12 in different capital cities all over the world. I found this very interesting as you could grasp what it was like to be there in that precise time in almost every country.
http://www.panoramas.dk/New-Year-2008/index.html
'QuickTime VR (virtual reality) (also known as QTVR) is a type of image file format supported by Apples QuickTime and the exploration of objects through images taken at multiple viewing angles. It functions as a plugin . It allows the creation and viewing of photographically captured panoramasfor the standalone QuickTime Player, as well as working as a plugin for the QuickTime Web Browser plugin. QuickTime VR will play on Windows computers as well as Apple Macintosh computers.'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QTVR
After looking it up on Wikipedia I felt I had more detailed information on how to create a QTVR. I realised that there were several kinds of QTVR such as:
-Cylindrical (the form we will be outputting)
-Cubic
-Spherical
I also had a brainstorm on what QTVRs might be used for to possibly trigger some ideas to start my project. As I had established before starting this research I already knew that they were used within the tourism industry, I think it is a good way to give the tourist an idea of the destination. When I went on holiday to Tunisia there was a similar VR covering aspects of the resort:
Here is a similar programme but it is not actually QuickTime.
http://www.iberostar.com/EN/hotel/visitavirtual.asp?codiconc=85&idiocodi=2&publicado=S
QTVR's are also used to record an event which is done very well on one of the sites i visited. It is recording New Years Eve on the strike of 12 in different capital cities all over the world. I found this very interesting as you could grasp what it was like to be there in that precise time in almost every country.
http://www.panoramas.dk/New-Year-2008/index.html
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