Packaging & Merchandising Design: Project #1

26.04.2022 - 16.05.2022 (Week #5 - Week #8)

Seerat Tayyab Mukhtar Qureshi - 0345576 (BDCM)

Packaging & Merchandising Design

Project #1

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Lectures:

Week #5: This week Mr Shamsul looked at the rules of packaging design.

1. Know your customer: The customer is the one making the ultimate decision so we must know the customer profile before designing. This can be done by observational studies, surveys etc. A product's packaging must appeal to its ideal customer 

2. Form follows function: Our ideas for the packaging must make sense in relation to the product inside. The customer should be able to tell what the product is via the packaging. This is not a constraint but an opportunity to make your packaging creative. Always remember what your product is however because not every product calls for a unique box.

3. Simplicity sells: Not always but often times minimal design comes across as attractive and elegant. It can help the product look calm on a shelf of chaos. It helps emphasise the purpose and message of the product. In general, consumers don't have time to stop and read every text so the main points must be decided and prioritised.

4. Think of the brand: Packaging design is a great way to radiate the brand and let the consumers know where the product is coming from. Without these products a company may not exist at all. 

5. Test: It is important to get the opinion of others on your design since the packaging is made to be seen by thousands of consumers. By gauging the opinions of others you can understand whether the brand stands out or not.

6. Take a look at the competition: By taking note of the brands displayed next to your product you can see exactly what you are up against. This can help you feel inspired to do better. It can also let you know whether you are on the right track with your design.

7. Stay in line: If you are designing packaging for multiple products in the same line, it is crucial to make them look related. The design doesn't have to be identical but should still be related. It should allow for variation without straying too far. Consistency enhances brand recognition as well.

8. Prime printing: Once the design is finalised, you need to make sure to pick a printer that knows about packaging. The printers should be specialising in packaging printing to make sure your hard work doesn't go to waste.

These are not strict rules but they should be used as guidelines to prevent a mistake that is difficult to undo. 

Week #7: This week we looked at planograms. It is a term to describe the visual merchandising plan of a store. It indicates the placement of retail products on shelves, as well as the entire layout of the store. Product suppliers pay close attention to planograms because they know product placement affects sales. Strategies are used to make sure related products are placed next to each other.

Planograms keep stores efficient. Smaller stores use them to maximise their selling space. Most retailers use planograms to create consistency. They can also help with how much inventory to keep of a product.

Planograms can be used to help design our packaging. We need to consider how much shelf space our packaging is taking up and whether it is too bulky or invisible. Customers make several of their decisions while shopping so planograms can help encourage more buying. 

Instructions:

Module Information Booklet

Project #1

For this project, we have to design the packaging for a McDonald's Happy Meal and Fun Fries. I started off by brainstorming some ideas. 

My first thought was to do "Important people of the world" but Mr Shamsul advised that it would be too wide and too much information. I decided to narrow it down to important figures of ancient Egyptian history. Kids are usually taught about Ancient Egypt but not really the mythology and it was something I was quite interested in as a kid so I am excited about this idea.

PMD - Project #1 by Seerat Qureshi

Fig 1.0: Visual inspiration and research

After Mr Shamsul's feedback, I decided to change the games a little. I liked his suggestion of the Kalkitos games so I decided to go with that concept and create a sticker sheet. The stickers from the sheet can be placed on a blank side of the packaging. 

Fig 1.1: Final Submission, PDF

Fig 1.2: Fries Mockup

Fig 1.3: Happy Meal Mockup 

Fig 1.4: Happy Meal Mockup 

Feedback:

Week #5: Mr Shamsul told me to narrow down my ideas a little. Important people of the world are too general and most kids these days might already know about them because of technology. He liked my Ancient Egyptian Gods ideas since it is something that is not taught in schools. He said I could pick out a few important ones to include in my packaging. 

Week #7: Mr Shamsul said my sketches and information are good. He suggested I look into the vintage game Kalkitos because my visuals remind him of it. It can also be an interesting way for me to gamify my design instead of the common generic games. I can start working on the visual design while thinking about the games.

Reflection:

Experience: This project was a really fun experience. I used to be obsessed with Happy Meals when I was younger so it was a lot of fun to design my own. I enjoyed being given the freedom to pick any topic for the redesign so I decided to go with Ancient Egypt which was another thing I was obsessed with when I was a kid. I enjoyed letting my inner child come out when designing and had fun drawing and illustrating the packaging.

Observation: I observed how my peers were designing their Happy Meals and how their visions might also be the results of their childhood experiences. It was nice to see everyone sharing topics that would be educational and motivational for kids. It really highlights how graphic design can have endless applications.

Findings: I found that at first I actually struggled with making some of the information kid-friendly since I have never designed something that is meant for kids. I found that it must be kept simple and straightforward but the subject matter should also be interesting in order to appeal to kids. This project was a refreshing break from all the other super serious design work :D