Experimentation: Practical

Some experimentation I have done in Illustrator while playing around with practical ideas. I am trying out the idea of making packaging that is visually similar to that of confectionary and snack packaging, which I am looking at in my dissertation.

What kind of font is suitable for children? I've tried out various typefaces that are child friendly. Many kids' brands use rounded or quite thick sans serif letters. 

I first tried out Comfortaa, as the shape of the letters is very clear and yet playful. I used a dull green colour paired with brown letters: not enticing to children at all! I also added a rough smiley face to add to the dreariness.

In particular, I have looked at the Haribo starmix packaging that I am studying in my dissertation.

From this, I have tried to mimic the letters in some ways, such as the colour and the light bouncing off.

It makes for a very playful look and would be quite enticing for children.

I quite like this exploration, as the colours work well together and it has definitely come out similar to Haribo. 

I next tried some bolder letters. I looked at the packaging of Snickers.
I tried to mimic it using the font Clarke, the letters are very clear, bold and eye catching.

I searched for a download of the Lego font, but none seemed worth it. I took inspiration from the colour scheme and the use of outlined colour around the letters.

These experimentations proved difficult, and I have discovered that it may just be very confusing to children if the graphics look incredibly similar to well known brands.

CoP: Practical Brief: Colour & Behaviour

Brief

Produce an educational activity for children. It must be in the form of packaged material, and informed by your research into colour, branding and packaging manipulation.

Create a response that utilises the manipulation you have learnt about to benefit children's development.

Include:

• An appropriate use of a wide range of colour
• A form of packaging
• A clear synthesis with the extended essay

Background/Considerations

Are children manipulated by brands and packaging? What was discovered through your practical and theoretical research?

How can the research you have explored and the analysis of case studies you have undertaken be applied to a practical exploration/outcome?

The outcome should be enticing and easy to understand for children. The use of image to support the use of colour may be appropriate.

Brands use these techniques for profit and to create young consumers, whereas this brief will be using them to create something more abstract: the packaging of behaviour.

Taking the manipulative skills of brands out of context and placing them in a simplified situation should show the capability of the use of colour to convey emotional connections.

Research: Branding - online articles and papers

McDonald's rolling out green logo in Europe
Associated Press, 2009
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/34111784/ns/business-us_business/t/mcdonalds-rolling-out-green-logo-europe/#.VnLiGUX-COk


"With this new appearance we want to clarify our responsibility for the preservation of natural resources. In the future we will put an even larger focus on that," Hoger Beek, vice chairman of McDonald's Germany, said in the statement.



Branding – why red & yellow is used by the fast food industry

Karen Haller, 2011
http://karenhaller.co.uk/blog/branding-why-red-yellow-is-used-by-the-fast-food-industry/







When you think of red & yellow do any brands come to mind?… I’m guessing you thought of a fast food brand. That is because they predominantly used red and yellow? This isn’t by accident.  The feelings, the mood this combination of colours emits is perfect for their target market.

Looking at the positive psychology qualities of red & yellow in relation to the fast food industry, red triggers stimulation, appetite, hunger, it attracts attention.  Yellow triggers the feelings of happiness and friendliness.
When you combine red and yellow it’s about speed, quickness.  In, eat and out again.
Yellow is also the most visible colour in daylight, which is why the McDonald’s M can be seen from a far distance.
The language of colour is communicated quicker to the brain than words or shapes as they work directly on our feelings and emotions.



Branding: The Past, Present, and Future: A Study of the Evolution and Future of Branding Anders Hampf & Kirsti Lindberg-Repo
https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/26578/556_978-952-232-134-3.pdf

This challenge was accepted by Marquardt et al. (1965) when they decided to investigate this issue by focusing on an everyday product. The results revealed that consumers wanted products with a well-known brand and that only 25% of the respondents did not pay attention to the brand at all, instead considering the price as the most important factor in buying the product.

Another new concept that was explored by Cunningham (1956) in the 1950s was brand loyalty; the concept evoked much debate and became one of the biggest controversies of that time. By that time, companies had already invested large amounts in branding; the problem was scarce empirical evidence that the efforts had had any effect. Hence, even though the idea of brand loyalty had already been introduced, there was an uncertainty whether it was something worth striving for. Through his research, Cunningham revealed that household loyalty was strong and consumers were brand loyal in more than 90% of the times while purchasing household goods.

In the early 1960s, another concept was introduced that had a major influence on marketing, namely
lifestyle. The first person to discuss the use of lifestyles in branding and marketing was William Lazer. At that time, many companies still had mass communication and mass production as their main strategy; however, it was mainly in the 1970s that lifestyle marketing attracted much attention.




The Value - Brand Trust - Brand Loyalty
Kurt Matzler, Sonja Grabner-Kräuter, Sonja Bidmon
http://businessperspectives.org/journals_free/im/2006/im_en_2006_02_Matzler.pdf

“Kapferer and Laurent (1993) conceptualize consumer involvement as a multidimensional construct consisting of five determinants: (1) personal meaning and self-reference, (2) ability to provide pleasure, (3) ability to express the person’s self, (4) perceived importance of negative consequences, which means the perceived importance of purchase risk and (5) perceived probability of purchase risk. To sum up, the level of involvement indicates how important a product and the consequences of its purchase are for the individual. Hence, involvement is suggested to moderate the relationships between product value, brand trust, and brand loyalty. For example, individuals with high product or enduring involvement might perceive a greater pleasure potential of the product, and therefore the influence of hedonic value on brand trust might be more dominant than for lowly involved persons.”

“Price consciousness is a crucial factor influencing purchase behavior. Highly price-conscious consumers express lower perceptions of offer value and higher price information search intentions (Alford and Biswas, 2002). According to Alford and Bsiwas (2002) highly price conscious consumers de-rive emotional value from looking for even lower prices. They get rewarded if lower prices have been found and are proud of their “success”.”

“Sinha and Batra (1999) demonstrated that consumers are less price-conscious in buying products in categories with high-perceived risk. As loyalty is one strategy of risk reduction, price consciousness may moderate the value – brand trust – brand loyalty chain. It is assumed that price consciousness weakens the influence of hedonic value to trust and strengthens the path from trust to attitudinal and purchase loyalty.”

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jSjC8UUdI68C&pg=PA25&lpg=PA25&dq=aesthetics+brand+differentiation&source=bl&ots=NZmAmtAx5D&sig=P1Smidc60pqdCzE8DgbZRQAGG1w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjpiIWy_qbJAhUEthQKHTZlAysQ6AEILTAB#v=onepage&q=colour&f=false

http://brandcolors.net/

https://www.mv-research.com/images/pdfs/segment.pdf

http://www.acrwebsite.org/search/view-conference-proceedings.aspx?Id=6364

Research: Communication theory - articles and online video

Marshall Mcluhan: The medium is the message

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImaH51F4HBw

5:30 - 6:10

The concern of the advertiser is to make an effect. Any painter, any artist, any musician, sets out to create an effect. He sets a strap to catches somebody's attention. Any painter, any poet, any musician sets a trap for your attention. That is the nature of art.




The Semiotics of Brand Building
Sudio Sudarsan (2015)
http://www.brandingmagazine.com/2015/02/04/the-semiotics-of-brand-building/

Like signs and symbols, brands are also imaginative signposts, signifying sign-object relations and connecting specific signs to definite objects. Take for instance the ‘golden arches’ of McDonald’s: Kids scream for a Happy Meal at the very sight of them. For children, the arches become a clear representation of food and fun, while for adults golden arches symbolize many other things (such as fast food, quick consistent service, and clean bathrooms) – all of which are instrumental brand identity markers in impressing the image of American food in consumers’ consciousness.

Since a brand is a system of sensory signs that incites consumers in a symbolic process, which then contributes to tangible value, semiotics is the keystone of brand building.

Research: Colour - books

Color and Design
Edited by Marilyn DeLong and Barbara Martinson
(2012, Berg, UK)

pg xxv
"Semantics influence our perception of color and function in designed objects; color meanings and use evolve out of significant events and mass media coverage; colors influence marketing and our selections of products and services; branding with color promotes marketing efforts."

experiencing and responding to colour

communication
colour in the designed environment
color: organisational strategies
color in context, culture, and traditions
social politics of white in design
what color is sustainability
color continuity
markets and trends


Colour
Paul Zelanski & Mary Pat Fisher
(Great Britain, 1989, The Herbert Press Ltd)

pg 28
It is universally accepted that colors affect us emotionally. Bright reds, oranges, and yellows tend to stimulate us, while blues and greens often make us feel more peaceful. Colors can therefore be used to express emotions and even to evoke them. Here again, however, we must beware of simplistic assumptions, for very slight differences in colors can produce quite different effects.

We associate the colors of fire- reds, yellows, oranges- with warmth. This is not just an abstract notion, for physiological research indicates that under red lighting our bodies secrete more adrenalin, increasing our blood pressure and our rate of breathing and actually raising our temperature slightly.

We associate blues and greens with the cooling qualities of water and trees, and physiological research shows that green or blue lights will slow our heartbeat, decrease our temperature, and relax our muscles.

healing
colour preferences


Book: Designer's Color Manual
Tom Fraser & Adam Banks
(2004, United States, The Ilex Press Limited)

pg 6
"Color influences everything we encounter, shaping our perception by accident or design. It may communicate complex interactions of association and symbolism, or a simple message conveyed more plainly than words."

brand
religion
nature
psychology
color association
color in branding and advertising


Color & Human Response
Faber Birren
(1978 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc, Canada)

pg 2

I do not exaggerate when I say that ancient man surrounded himself with color and in turn was surrounded by it. All civilizations since the beginning of man’s existence worshipped the sun, and from the sun came light and color.

The bodies of people are very much the same, but their minds and spirits are radically different.

Practical // Development

After taking some time to think over feedback, I have thought about more ways to package these behaviours. 

1 - Make two boxes - one 'good, one 'bad'. Each could have the appropriate behaviours inside for children to find when they open the boxes. Through the use of colour manipulation, they will feel more positively about the 'Good' box as the colours would be desirable, and rather the opposite for the 'Bad' box.

Cons - Each box would have too much content inside for it to be effective. What would children do with what they found and would they bother to properly take in each one?

2 - Use image rather than text on the outside of the box - taken from my research into the imagery used in conjunction with colour in packaging. This could reinforce the emotions associated with the colours, and push the manipulation further. Also, more synthesis with my writing would come from this.

Smiley faces are often used in relation to good behaviour, such as stickers rewarded by teachers or parents. They are a clear representation of positivity, thus a simplified interpretation of the characters seen on children's packaging:

This makes a clear connection in the child's mind, by using a friendly face they will associate it with something fun. With this activity, I am trying to instil ideas about behaviour through associations that already exist in packaging and branding.

Cons -  Would this make the packages more about the faces rather than the colour? Would that change it into less of a reliable experiment (the activity is for children to learn, but also it's an interesting test.)? Possibly using the faces largely on the front of the box would deter from the colour aspect.

3 - For my third idea, I have scrapped the smiley faces (for now). The certain behaviour, for example "Good manners", could be labelled on the outside and when opened could reveal the colour that I have matched with it.

Cons - This defeats the point of colour being a manipulative factor of packaging. In this situation the colour is unable to be used to attract the children to pick up a box. I think that it would be confusing to a child to open a box that has nothing in it.

4 - Moving back to the idea of emotion and it not being clear enough on its own, I have thought that the emotion could be accompanied by good and bad ways of dealing with it. For example, anger negatively affects others. This would suggest to children about ways of behaving in a more detailed manner.

Cons - This could complicate the activity and stray away from the focus, which is colour and packaging manipulation. It needs to stay simple.

5 - Coming back to the smiley face idea, I could create a character much like the mascots of popular brands.

As I am analysing in my dissertation, GoGo Squeez has fun characters to attract children. A character could be added to the boxes that are positive behaviours, or could be added to both bad and good boxes, but with different facial expressions that are appropriate.

Cons - The complications that come with creating a character may distract from the colour - which is my main focus with this project.

6 - Working from the downfalls of the last ideas, I have thought to create boxes that are just simply different colours on the outside, with no other features until opened up. When opened up, they could reveal a behaviour that is either good or bad. This way, it is like the behaviour is the product that is wrapped with the coloured packaging.

Maybe smiley faces could be used inside to reinforce the effects of the chosen colour, just like how children's packaging works? They work together.

I have (more or less) selected the behaviour traits that I want to use in the boxes. Half of them are positive and half negative, which will be appropriately paired with colours.

Above is a further sketch showing how the boxes may look, each with a vivid colour differing from the next.

What shape would be most appropriate for the content? 

The word would snugly fit in a rectangle shaped box, and would slightly mimic the shape of many sweet packets. However, when fit together the boxes would not look as fun for the children than if they were cubes.

The packages could come with a leaflet that explains it further.

Practical // Crit 2

Where I am so far, and what I proposed to the group:

• an idea I have is to use colour to teach young children how to treat other people and behave well.
• I have found from my research that they respond well to certain colours.
• it will take the form of packaging, as thats what I've focused on analysing.
• fun for the children to unpackage almost like a game, and there could be something inside it like a toy or cut out shape.
• on the contrary, it could be blank and ready to be coloured in.

Feedback:

• make something effective, rather than just 'nice'
• watch the film 'Inside Out' - as it has psychological themes and colour is used to portray different emotions
• children tend to associate certain colours with things that they have experienced in that colour (Billie said her nephew associates small black things with liquorice, which he didn't like the taste of)
• Simon said his son got a glimpse of bright green sweets and latched on to them just purely from getting a glance of the colour.
• look at behavioural colour therapy

This feedback has been effective, as the experiences of people have added to my research and shown that yes, children are affected by colour.

Practical // Development of ideas

Since my last tutorial with Amber, I have had some more ideas on my practical. When we discussed packaging an 'emotion' or something similar, this stood out to me.

I could package emotions according to how children perceive them; taking from my ongoing research. Using the manipulation I am researching, I could package these abstractions through supermarket product style packaging.

Although these could be interesting outcomes, what is the purpose? It would be difficult to create this and aim it at children. What would they gain? Something like emotion is difficult for children to understand.

It's also hard to communicate through graphic design the ups and downs of emotion, as even though some emotions are good and some are bad, they can all be valid depending on the situation. Yes, children do think some colours are linked to certain emotions, but would I be teaching them not to feel some emotions because they are bad and it is wrong to feel them?

This has led me to think that this would be complicated to execute, and I wouldn't be creating something that takes enough advantage of the research I am carrying out - creating something real that attempts to teach children something through the use of colour would.

-

I have then thought of using colour to promote good behaviour; something me and Amber discussed. We talked about making something that adults can use to bribe children - from this I have thought about making something that reminds children of good and bad behaviour. This is still on the abstract side of things - but is something children can utilise and (hopefully) learn from.

What behaviour could be included?

From watching the documentary 'The Life of 5/6/7 Year Olds' I have become very aware of certain traits in young children. They are constantly learning and making mistakes.
Perhaps some of these behaviours are a little too detailed for some children to understand - they should be simpler.


I could package each of these behaviours using 'positive' and 'negative' colours - all based on what I am researching. Could there be something inside to make it more rewarding for children to open certain boxes?

CoP Tutorial 4

• For thursday's practical crit, I need to fill out a brief template that outlines what I'm doing.
• look at Richard's lecture online to gain information on formatting of dissertation.

Practical notes:

• could create packaging for something abstract, such as politeness, or good behaviour, to help children do things that they don't want to do via what I have learnt about colour.
• children are bribed into doing so many things, so it could be a kit that helps adults deal with childrens behaviour etc.
• think about what children are drawn to - characters, colour, stickers, things they can play with.
• certain tasks/emotions/things/characters can be colour coordinated so that each colour has an effective meaning
• could be a packaged board game, or a simple 'please & thank you' designed colourfully.
• follow colour semiotics or challenge them?
• try to talk to someone with young children about what they are drawn to, as this would be some useful research.

Time plan: December

I didn't keep 100% on track for my November time plan, but that is bound to happen. I have gotten about 5000 words done. I predict that my essay will need at least 3000 more words to be finished, as I have my third chapter to do and also my conclusion.

Here is my time plan for December, which takes into account where I am currently up to.

4/12 - 6500 words

8/12 & 9/12 - Develop practical side of the project - I need to make sure I dedicate enough time to getting this developed, instead of just focusing on my dissertation which I have done for a lot of november.

11/12 - 7500 words for the draft submission - I do not expect that my essay will be finished by this time.

17/12 & 18/12 - Develop practical

- Christmas -

30/12 - Develop practical

- New Years -

CoP Practical // Visual/concept research

Children's Festival

http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/eric-rohter

Norway-based Eric Rohter’s rebrand for the World Children’s festival is a sweet, candy coloured identity that uses simple curved shapes for an adaptable typeface and clear, communicative language tailored towards its audience.

Fresh'N'Friends Fruit Figures packaging make kids eat healthy food

https://stocklogos.com/topic/freshnfriends-fruit-figures-packaging-make-kids-eat-healthy-food

There is just one small problem: kids hate healthy food but they love sweets. And worst of all: kids won´t listen to logical arguments. Therefore, our task was to convince the kids without lecturing them. Instead of calling attention to that problem with a traditional ad campaign we chose to solve the problem. The solution was a new product: fruit figures. To make fruits as appealing as sweets for kids we designed fruit arrangements that suit children. Boring fruits were designed in shape of teddy bears, kittens, flowers – all the things kids love. Just like ordinary fruit salads the fruit figures were sealed, put in a tray and sold in Fresh´N´Friends stores. And to open the design process for those who should really be involved, we let the kids design their own fruit figures. Over 3,500 designs from children were submitted. The rabbit figure of five-year-old Dario got the most votes and was therefore added to the product range.

Advertising Agency: Scholz & Friends, Berlin, Germany


Jooze fruit juice packaging

http://www.packagingoftheworld.com/2010/09/jooze-student-work.html

The shape of the logo is inspired by the shape of a sliced fruit, and the handwritten typeface used is to portray a sense of fun, hands-on personality and characteristic that appeals to kids and toddlers. The logo also consists of singular bright colours, which may vary depending on the flavour of the juice. This would hopefully be a recognisable icon whereby children can relate and connect to the brand. A simplified illustration of the fruits are to further clarify the flavours, to add visual aesthetics, and to appeal and connect to the target audience. 

Save Energy
http://www.designswan.com/archives/tio-save-energy-from-child.html

Tio, called by its designer Tim Holley, is a ghost-shaped light switch that gives kids a visual reminder of how much energy they’ve used by leaving lights on.

Jean Jullien - Childline Posters

http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/jean-jullien-childline

Colour Me Healthy

http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/publication-colour-me-healthy

The Psychology of Colour
http://www.theschooloflife.com/shop/the-psychology-of-colour/

Many of us haven't owned a nice box of coloured pencils since we were children. Yet no adult life should be without one, because having a suite of hues at our fingertips provides a route to a wide array of moods and inspirations.
This box knows that colours are connected to the chords of our souls.
The set includes a booklet about the psychology of colour, explaining how particular shades can link us to a range of memories and feelings:
Hope
Vitality
Adventure
Power
Ambiguity
Clarity
Discipline
Sanity
Realism
Mellowness
Dignity
Authority

CoP Practical // Crit

We had a crit for Extended Practice, but I also mentioned my practical ideas for context of practice.

What am I struggling with and need thoughts on?
I'm not sure where to take the practical side of it, and with what tone of voice or opinion to take.

I explained these ideas and thoughts:

• One idea is an informative pack in the form of a packaged product that explains how colour can be used to make people feel things and buy things.
• children could colour in and interact with it
• encourage them to widen their knowledge of different colours other than the main primary colours
• teach them that colour shouldn't be decided for them.
• introduce a challenge, by making them think more about why they see things in a certain light, so that they can make more informed decisions.

Feedback summed up

• use colour to entice children into something they don't usually want, like how the Green Giant sweetcorn adverts show how the green giant makes children want to eat vegetables to be strong like him.

An example: package vegetables in a colourful and enticing way, or medicine, or vitamins. In this sense, I could manipulate for GOOD from my knowledge instead of for consumerist reasons.

• give children certain colours which they can overlap to make new colours. 

This could teach them about how colour is vast and we can control what we do with it, and what it means.

• research into gender constructs and why blue is for boys and pink is for girls.

Although this is part of colour perception, it is something I have been trying to avoid in my dissertation, as it opens up a huge new subject. If I do touch on it, it will be skimmed over and amongst many other connotations.

From the feedback I received, what has stuck with me is using the manipulation I've learnt about, to create positive change in children. Some further ideas I have thought of:

• package healthy food, medicine, vitamins etc.
• make informative content that is in the form of supermarket packaging, but when opened has fun information inside, or a clay/knitted/toy fruit/veg/object that we are trying to persuade the kids to use/eat.
• this could be something that changes how they see packaging for unhealthy food and items, and make them warm to healthier things.

CoP Practical: Initial ideas/ Where am I?

I am nearly half way through my second chapter, so at this stage I need to be starting my practical work.

Dissertation title:
Is colour in branding and packaging for children manipulative?

My research:

• Case studies of children's packaging
• Statistics of colour perception
• Brand theory
• Communication theory
• Marketing to children

Practical exploration points to consider:

• I need to create something that reflects my research and is a new exploration. It needs to be based around children, colour and packaging.
• However, if I want to make something that doesn't include packaging, I may need to change my dissertation title.

I am struggling to come up with an idea that is not going down the route of rebranding or repackaging something - I feel that this would not open any new doors.

Problem solving:

• wider colour palette awareness for children (eg more than just primary colours)
• colour free of social connotations
• creating our own connotations with colour and symbols
• packaging/branding that doesn't manipulate

Initial ideas:

• interactive booklet with colour slots to colour in/ detachable colour palette - so children can decide the colour palette for themselves
• rotating colour wheel with colours and key words/connotations - it could either be to help children figure out the connotations of colours, or to teach them that they are not set in stone/innocent.
• food packaging that children can colour themselves
• objects and features made up of unnatural colours to challenge the ideas of what colours mean

The idea of children colouring in food packaging is an interesting concept - children not falling prey to branding and marketing - but it would lack logical sense, as the manipulating of packaging is about being enticing in supermarkets etc. It would not be solving much as would the child be interested in something colourless to start with? 

A lot of my initial ideas include teaching children about colour connotations - but in my dissertation I am discovering that they have them in their mind already. This is too simple and not really attempting to change anything.

CoP Tutorial 3

Practical crit - 7th December
Final draft - 11th December

Need to work on:

• Design boards and blog
• Practical example and studies - this will put the theories into perspective.
• Colour theory - need to add more of it into the first chapter, which focuses too much on colour preference.

Practical work:

• think about the format
• fit it into the title of dissertation

I might have to take 'packaging' out of the title, if I don't want to do a packaging outcome. This is something I am struggling with as I don't necessarily want to just design packaging, however it is something I write about a lot in my dissertation.

CoP Tutorial 2

In this tutorial we discussed how to organise my chapters, as I was a bit lost on how to separate and structure my writing. Below is my plan before the tutorial:

Chapter one

How do we perceive colour?

Chapter two

Manipulation in branding

Chapter three

Children's packaging

I felt a bit uncertain whether this was the right way to go, so we rearranged it as so:

Chapter one

Colour and audience (children)

Chapter two

Brand and communication theory

Chapter three

Case studies/visual research

Notes:

• send Amber introduction and first chapter by next friday
• three or four chapter plan (time plan)
• 500 - 700 word count for intro
• link this into extended practice research

Research:

• communication theory - Mediums & Message (book)
• The Secret Life of 5 year olds - a documentary consisting of filming children in a nursery and the things they get up to and how they communicate and deal with issues.

Practical

I need to be thinking about my practical response and have a clear idea soon. Some thoughts we had:

• I don't want to do a standard rebrand of a product, or design a new brand for children. I'd much rather do something more abstract and abit more unique, that can still be linked to my written work.
• Amber suggested the idea of packaging an emotion or feeling, and using colours to communicate it to children.
• It needs to be packaging and have an audience of children, and can be quite lighthearted.

Time plan: November

Seeing as I am starting to piece together all my research and starting the introduction of the essay, I made a time plan at the start of this month. I feel that this will help to keep me focused, especially as I aim to be finished on my dissertation by Christmas.

I think that maybe I have overestimated myself in this time plan, but I find by setting high standards it will push me to work hard.

-

4/11 - Full plan of my dissertation done - everything needs to be clearly organised so that when I start writing, I have a strong structure to work from.

5/11 - 400 words - This will be most of the introduction.

6/11 - 800 words - Have a solid start to my first chapter done.

13/11 - 1300 words - Further development of my first chapter.

20/11 - 2500 words - Most of my first chapter, if not all.

27/11 - 5300 words - I will be spending all of my working time of that week working on the writing, so hopefully I can reach this goal.

CoP Proposal: Updated

 Below is the details of my updated context of practice proposal. I have taken longer than I would have liked to get to this stage, but I am now happy with my research path.

I have chosen to investigate colour and it's meanings and associations because I find it really fascinating how many ways colour can be used. 

-

SUBJECTS OF CONTEXTUAL RESEARCH ALREADY UNDERTAKEN

Level 4: The value of fine art and graphic design

Level 5: Political branding

AIM AND/OR OBJECTIVE OF YOUR PROPOSED COP3 PROJECT

Is the use of colour in branding and packaging for children manipulative?

1. What research needs to be undertaken into the general and specific contexts of your practice?

Colour psychology, and the semiotics surrounding it, communication theory will fit in to this.

Brand and marketing theory

Children’s packaging

2. What approach(es) will you take and what processes, methods, materials and tools are to be involved in the research into your practice?

Explore studies and theories, and different approaches that have been taken

Visual study of branding aimed at children, along with packaging of products

3. What preparation or investigations do you need to undertake for your creative practice to take place?

Explore different brands and how they use colour

4. What research do you need to undertake regarding who your creativity is for?

Primary Sources of Information

1. Brand packaging for children

Location: shops, supermarkets

Secondary Sources of Information

1. Colour and Design by Marilyn DeLong and Barbara Martinson

2. Consumer Kids by Ed Mayo & Agnes Nairn

3. Advertising to Children by M. Carole Macklin and Les Carlson

4. No Logo by Naomi Klein

5. Color & Human Response by Faber Birren

6. Understanding Brands by Don Cowley

Cop: Tutorial 1

In this tutorial me and Amber spoke for the first time about my ideas for context of practice. At this stage I am a little behind as I've been struggling with what subject to go with, but I explained that I've been very interested in colour and how brands use it. So far I've read a couple of books about colour psychology and design. Amber recommended that I look into:

• communication theory
• brand theory
• signs, symbols, colour and their relationship to a brand
• a specific type of brand, to make it less vague and more focused
• I need to figure out who the audience is, what are the products if any, and what is the service of the brand.

One interesting idea was to study children's branding and packaging, and who the audience is. This was suggested as I'm interested in illustration, so this could effectively link to my extended practice module.

I could research into how manipulative it is, and a comparison with branding aimed at adults. Visual studies are important at this stage: I need to make sure I spend enough time doing this aswell as reading theory.

ideas of what to research:

• 'Go-go Squeez' - packaging for healthy children's snacks
• seek out agencies that design children's packaging etc - eg Robotfood

COP // Reading list

Kids as Customers - James McNeal

Children as Consumers - James McNeal

Tapping the Three Kids' Markets , American Demographics

Colours and Cultures - Sahlins

Does Consumers' Favourite Colour Affect Their Choice of Unpackaged Product (Car)? by D. Funk

Colour and Product Choice: A Study of Gender Roles by D. Funk

What We Know about Consumers' Color Choices by R.P. Grossman

Color can Affect Success of Products by L. Trent

Automotive Color Trends for New Millennium by T. Triplett

The Meanings of Colour: Preferences among Hues by W.R. Crozier

Citizen Brand: 10 Commandments for Transforming Brands in a Consumer Democracy by Marc Gobe

Color: The Secret Influence by Fehrman, K.R.

Selling with Colour by F. Birren

The Colour Eye - BBC Video

Colour Consulting - A Survey of International Colour Design by H. Linton

Managing images in different cultures: A Cross-National Study of Color Meanings and Preferences by Madden
[Madden, Hewett, and Roth (2000) analyzed the emotions associated with colors cross-culturally to determine the role of color combinations in brand logos. They found that blue, green, and white colors were associated with peaceful, gentle, and calming effects, both in Western and Eastern cultures.]{Color and Design}

Colour as a Semiotic Mode: Notes for a Grammar of Colour by Kress
[Color communicates meanings at three levels; ideational, interpersonal, and textual. At the ideational level color helps to identify "the representations of the world" including specific people, places, or ideas. Association of the color orange with the Netherlands or vibrant pink with breast cancer can be examples of ideational roles of color. Color conveys interpersonal meanings when it is used "to do things." For example, the use of yellow and orange colors to warn people against danger is regarded as interpersonal meaning. Finally at the textual level color can be used to convey "unity and cohesion." Kress and Leeuwen (2002) use the example of different door colors in a building associated with different departments that create unity within each department but at the same time, distinguish the different departments.]{Color and Design}

Color and symbolic meaning of elements in nature by Kim
[According to Kim (2006) the image of nature can be expressed by four elements: fire, earth, water, and air, and by the colors that represent them: red, yellow, green, and blue. The author suggests that these colors can convey a nature-friendly message. - Kim also did a content analysis of fashion magazines within ten years and found that even the colors used in fashion convey a natural theme that would undergo change every season to give rise to new trends.]{Color and Design}

Color in Folklore and Traditions by J Hutchings
[categorized the symbolic uses of color under three driving forces, as economical, historical, and social. As an example to economic forces: achromatic colors of black, gray and off-white are inexpensive and easily cleaned and thus can provide suitable dress for individuals unable to afford other clothing. Historical driving forces include the use of color in a patriotic sense. Color as a social driving force conveys messages for healing purposes, rites of passage, and supernatural forces.]{Color and Design}

Primary Design in The Complete Works by A Branzi

Colour: Travels though the Paintbox by Finlay

Color, Essence and Logic by R.G. Kuehni

Terwogt and Hoeksma (2001) Colours and emotions: Preferences and Combinations [color preference studies]

Clarke and Costall (2008) The Emotional Connotations of Color: A Qualitative Investigation

A Note on Adults' Color-Emotion Associations - M. Hemphill
[Research shows that colors invoke specific and consistent emotions in people and that these emotions can change as people age. A study of colour- emotion linkages in adults found that bright colours (e.g., white, pink, red, yellow, blue, purple, green) produced more positive responses than dark colours (e.g., brown, black, gray)]{Color and Design}

A study of preschool children's color preferences selected from three primary... - Khambata, D.

Children's Emotional Associations with Colors - C.J. Boyatzis

The Dark Side of Self- and Social Perception: Black Uniforms and Aggression in Professional Sports - Frank M.G. and Gilovich T.

The Effect of Uniform Color on Athletes' Readiness for Competition and Perceptions of Opponents' Attributes J LeMaire, S. Short, L. Ross-Stewart, M. Short

Leeds Uni

Color Categories in Thought and Language by C.L. Hardin
Library: Brotherton

Colour and Human Response by F. Birren
Library: Health and Sciences/Brotherton

Color and Meaning: Art, Science, and Symbolism by J. Gage
Library: Health Sciences

Understanding Brands: By 10 People Who Do by Don Cowley
Library: Brotherton

Dress and Identity by Roach-Higgins
Library: Brotherton

Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution by Berlin, Brent and Kay
Library: Brotherton/Laidlaw

The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception by J.J. Gibson
Library: Health Sciences

Color for Philosophers: Unweaving the Rainbow by C.L. Hardin
Library: Brotherton/Laidlaw

Building Strong Brands by Aaker
Library: Brotherton

Designing Brand Identity by Wheeler
Library: Edward Boyle
[Color is second only to shape in cognition and is recognized before content in the cognitive sequence: shape, color, content] Color and Design

At college

The Order of Things by Foucalt
[When the pattern becomes widely accepted so as to become invisible, it has in fact been normalised. Foucalt calls this process of normalisation a "different type of power," one that "has established itself without ever resting on a single institution but by establishing interactions between different institutions" (2003: 26)] Color and Design

The Art of Color: The Subjective Experience and Objective Rationale of Color by Johannes Itten

Book of Color: Defining, Explaining, and Illustrating the Fundamental Characteristics of Color by A.E.O. Munsell

Color and Communication by J.P. Favre
vernon street

[[[[Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and Its Challenge to Western Thought ]]]]

Color: A Survey in Words and Pictures

The Big Book of Color in Design by David Carter

Colour: Messages and Meaning

Chromophobia by David Batchelor - vernon street
[The repeated order of whiteness and white surfaces do not invite interference and distraction. They are, as Batchelor had said, "uninterruptible," which is very different from "uninterrupted," the former cannot be interfered with and the latter can (2007: 43)] Color and Design

Blue mythologies: reflections on a colour.  /  Mavor, Carol

vernon street

Colour how to use colour in art and design by Feisner

Goethes Colour Theory

Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices by Stuart Hall

Colour Codes by Charles Riley

The wayfinding handbook: information design for public places.

Designing brands: market success through graphic distinction  /  Schrubbe-Potts, Emily  (2000)

Emotional Branding: The New Paradigm for Connecting Brands to People by M. Gobe

Emotional Design: Why We Love (Or Hate) Everyday Things by D.A. Norman

Joel Desgrippes and Marc Gobe: on the emotional brand experience

COP 3 Proposal: Initial ideas

 These are some initial and broad ideas I have had that I'm interested in, and would like to research and write about.
 
Social issues

Gender

• trans, fluid, non binary
• women held to higher standards
• women misrepresented in the art and design world
• conventional beauty and the media

Gender is something that could be linked to graphic design as there are less female designers, and instances like design that is aimed at a specific gender, or sexist graphic design.


Cultural appropriation

• fancy dress
• fashion statements
• pop culture - Miley Cyrus, Iggy Azalea
• commodification
• 'what if America loved black people as much as black culture'

How could these ideas be linked to graphic design? It seems more of a difficult one. I could look at how graphic designers tackle activism and use design for good, or how image, identity factors in to both graphic design and culture.

OUGD501 // Evaluation

Evaluate

-essay - branding used in politics
-practical - how to apply this to visual branding


This module has been vital to my learning process of the more technical and conceptual sides of graphic design. Previously, I had little knowledge on the principles of branding and how every organisation/company imaginable thrives on it.

Through creating my essay, I have researched many different sources that thoroughly investigate branding theory and politicians or political parties who have carefully used these tactics. However, I think that my essay was too broad, and would have been a more full, in depth analysis if I had focused on one political party. 3000 words was less than I thought to explore the areas I wanted to. Because of this I couldn't fully delve into the reasoning for, say, how the Nazi's manipulated Germany to gain power.

To follow on from my essay, after some thought I decided to create a visual identity for the small Peace Party, as they have little branding as it is and it was a way to hypothetically help them gain more attention from the public. It was also a morally sound choice I made as designer, which is an interesting spin to put on it as the topic of what work to take and not to take comes up a lot in graphic design discussion. I am happy with the outcome of the logo, I just wish that with more time I could have put it into practice as a reflection of the branding guidelines I created.

I found creating branding guidelines difficult and more technical than I imagined, but what I produced is very clear and has the necessary information.

Overall, I was able to put into practice what I learned from my essay, whilst taking in more visual research to inform my decisions.

Rebranding // Final branding guidelines

I designed the branding guidelines very simplistically and straightforward, as it is based on a serious political party where information is the product, rather than the branding of a consumer product. It does not need to look inviting or entertain the viewer, it's sole purpose is to deliver technical information about the brand.

I divided the information into small chunks that can easily be followed.

In the branding guidelines I have included some basic information about the party to introduce what factors are behind the visual identity, then going on to why the logo is designed how it is. Then came the uses of the brand.

I made sure to include the slogan that is on their website: 'Non-violence, justice, environment'. Other parties have versions of their logos with a short sentence like so, to made the party more clear in it's intentions.

The colours are displayed with the technical details for print or web use, as these colours are important to the brand and logo to represent the party and it's values.

I included the different variations of Univers, which has been used in the logo. Different weights can be used in different situations to enhance type hierarchy. However I am aware that it needs to be purchased for use, so I have made that clear to the reader.

Guidelines for adding extra details to the logo are important, as the party want it to be as accessible as possible anywhere in the country. Local parties can add their name like so.

I created the brand guidelines as a booklet using indesign, but it is also designed to work as a pdf to be accessed online.

Reasoning for a booklet version: Local parties, supporters or graphic designers for the Peace Party themselves may require a physical copy of the guide to help them with the placement of the brand and logo. It should be designed as such so that it is available at any time.

Stock: Cartridge paper, as it is of a good quality but cheap - a small party would not be able to afford very high quality paper for branding guidelines.

Reasoning for online PDF version: This makes it accessible to everybody via google search or the party's website without having to contact anyone. This encourages people to get involved with the party by giving them easily accessible resources.