OUGD503 - YCN - Initial Ideas: Packaging Concept

OUGD503 - Studio Brief 1/Individual Practice 

Initial Ideas: Packaging Concept

With an exciting new identity for the brand, that appeals a contemporary customer and highlights the brands sustainable ethos. The next stage in fully resolving the brief was to discover a way to fully revitalise the brand. Reading bad through the brief a key statement that stood out was that UCC wants to give Grand Cafe the 'WOW factor' and that the current design 'doesn't bring the brand to life'. This drew back to the brands current packaging as it doesn't effectively engage its customers and is admitted by the client to often 'hide within a cupboard underneath the counter' they want the brand to take 'pride of place on display' this identified an need for a new packaging design that will engage the customers using a strong aesthetic that truly transforms the brand into a new dimension. 

Analysing the existing packaging designs lead to the conclusion that not only should the design of the packaging be revitalised but the materials themselves. Currently the packaging is made of plastic that is non-biodegradable and cannot be recycled or disposed of as responsibly as other materials. This felt to directly contrast the brands ethos and environmental production values lowering the brands integrity preaching ethical harvesting of the beans but packaging them in materials that harm the environment they aim to protect. Reusable and sustainable materials are frequently used within coffee packaging, the most notable being of the Douwe Egberts coffee packaged in glass jars, that have been seen to produce endless up cycling projects. This USP makes the coffee more desirable due to the glass jar being recycled countless ways by its customers. 

Focusing the packaging designs on more environmentally friendly materials will increase the brands legitimacy, make the product more attractive aesthetically, using high quality materials that look more established that plastic bags and ensure the focus of ethical production flows through the brands DNA. From the humanist qualities of the logo to the informed material selection used within the packing this will realise the brand as experienced and knowledgeable promoting the ethical production and delivery of their product that will be engaging to consumers and reinforces the brands ethos as committed to sustainability. 

This case study lead to a research into sustainable materials and packaging with a focus on recyclable/re-purposable materials based on the success of the Douwe Egberts jar. This research concluded Aluminium Tin would be a viable packaging option due to its sustainable qualities. Aluminium's ability to form any shape and its protective qualities have made it the most versatile packaging material in the world. Key benefits include is sustainability as aluminium foil, aluminium cans and other aluminium packaging materials can be fully recycled and reused an infinite number of times. 

Concluding aluminium was a viable material selection inline with the brands sustainable ethos, I then looked at different forms of aluminium packaging. From this I found that Aluminium tins held the most promising concept to be developed into a successful packaging solution. The structure meant it could hold the coffee securely adding a solid water barrier and withholding the natural aroma of the beans. Further more the tin will look more substantial to display than a plastic pouch which adds further incentive to display the product on the counter. Using the exposed raw material adds an tactile nature to the packaging which will engage the user, and being the abundant metal in the Earth's crust relates the material selection back to the environmental aesthetic that I am embedding into the brands DNA creating consistency with the branding concept. 

Through further research it was identified that square tins would be more environmentally friendly than circle tins  in terms of shipping. Square tins stack neatly with no wasted space wheres circle tins leave high proportions of wasted space that will increase air miles adding to global pollution required for transporting the product.  This wasted space will result in more vans needed to ship the product due to the accumulated amount of wasted space as a result on uninformed design decisions. This further defines the brand and ever conscious of the environment and demonstrates how Grand Cafe shows serious commitment to the sustainability and ethics of its product from every possible angle. 

Square vs Circle tins highlighting wasted space in yellow

To enhance the functionality of the packaging within its environment it would be a creative idea to assign each blend a different colour and place this on the lid therefore the blends can be easily distinguished by the barista which will be beneficial in a busy cafe/restaurant environment. This would allow the catering staff to become quickly familiar with the blends associating each one with a colour that will provide better recall and more efficient delivery of the coffee to the customer as they can quickly grab the correct colour dependant on which blend the customer requests. 

This packing concept is extensively researched and thought out to embed the brands USP into every aspect of the product. These refined proposal reinforces the brands ethos the DNA of the product, from the logo design using humanist features to represent the ethical production values of the product, to the sustainable materials used within its packaging design and its educated awareness distribution informing the shape of the packaging design. Based on this concept I ordered a sample tin to experiment with and form the basis of the packaging concept, from this dimensions for the labels, graphics can be experiment with on a live scale and be developed accordingly.