Colours in a Brand

In branding the colour is most important because colour can drag down the brand. When designing something for a brand like logo, packaging or a mark its best that the designer won’t design with a particular colour in mind. The designer has to ensure that the mark will work in several different colours. The best way to test the colours is to first start with the natural dimensions of colour: hue (red vs. blue), saturation (bright blue vs. blue gray), and brightness (light blue vs. dark blue). The designer has to understand the context of colour-how a light shape on a dark field looks smaller than a dark shape on a light field.

When customers see the product the first thing that they see is the colour. Colour communicates at the speed of light. The brain responds to colour the same way it responds to pleasure or pain. It’s immediate, primal. Before choosing the colour the designer has to know the cultural connotations of the colour, for example red can mean love but also can mean danger.

There are a lot of theories about colours for example schools and hospitals use favor teal paint for interior walls to make people feel calm, while restaurants are more likely to choose red interiors to make people feel hungry. But these theories can change over time. Colour can be chosen by season like fashion markets and be a trend for example if a fashion brand use a light blue an interior brand can use the same colour.

Colours make an important difference in cultures as well for examples in Western cultures, people wear black to funerals, while in Eastern cultures mourners wear white. The cultural connotations of colour are often learned and permeate a market.

References:

Kevin Budelmann, 2013. Essential Elements for Brand Identity: 100 Principles for Designing Logos and Building Brands (Design Essentials). Edition. Rockport Publishers.

First ideas

Presentation

Proposal

What is packaging design ?

What is packaging design ?

Packaging is protection for the product. With the packaging, people can transport and carry the products. Packaging is something that communicates to the consumer. The first packaging was created by nature, the peas in a pool, coconut milk and banana. Man started to create packaging as well from nature to help them to carry the products. Humans started to make baskets from jute sacks and clay pots. Roman Amphora were the first packs to carry branding and labelling information, specifying their content, origin and manufacturer.

To communicate with the consumer the designer has to come up with an easy and memorable name. The colour makes an important part of the communication and help the consumers to identify the brand more easily, like coca-cola has red, Tiffany & co has blue. The form of the product can also help the consumers to identify the brand like the coca-cola bottle and Jack Daniels bottle.

Some materials that can be used as packaging: The most used material is paper and card but rather that there are more materials like; plastics, PET, laminates and films, glass, metal and aluminium. Designers and manufacturers are exploring other materials like organic and natural alternatives.

The message and the typesetting are very important on the packaging. The message should be direct and the typesetting ; for example on products that are handmade the type should be handwritten to keep the same environment. The symbols, barcodes and consumer data should be included in packaging design.

Some packaging is interactive and reusable for example the yogurt for children, its packaging will be blocks. Fun and humour is a good concept can be taken further to add appeal and emotional communication.

To help recycling the packaging nowadays designers started to design minimalist packaging like Mac. It is more easy in this way because it is easily opened and toxic free. Packaging like glass bottles of drinks are recycled by selling the glass bottles to the supermarket. To decrease the use of plastic in packaging, in Japan came up with a very good idea of refilling your own water bottle in the supermarket and pay only for water. Packaging can also be a source to send messages to people about awareness. 

References:

Packaging Design Conference 12-09. 2015. Packaging Design Conference 12-09. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/paulvickers/packaging-design-conferance-09-10?related=1. [Accessed 27 November 2015].

Paraphrased article

Steven Heller

When I’m Sixty-Five

As stated by Heller (2015, p1) ‘Sixty-four isn’t that old these days’. The author suggests that 64 year olds shouldn’t be treated and looked at as helpless individuals who acquire heavy attention, as 60 is still considered relatively young by today’s social standards.

The real trouble however starts when one turns 65. At 65, the government sees you not only as an adult, but as senior citizen with senior perks. Despite the numerous privileges that the government is providing senior with, Heller is complaining about the actual graphics design found on cards and other materials that defines one’s age and right (rather than the rights themselves). The author believes that death certificates are more visually appealing than Medicare IDs. He also says that the email he received from said administration added insult to injury as the headline’s type was written in a cartoon bold Italics type style.

‘Good design is supposed to be ageless, not aged’ (Heller, 2015, p2). While Heller is thankful for this privileges, he is hopeful that design targeted towards the elderly changes from that which is borderline disrespectful, to something which is clean, fun yet legible.