Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed this module and feel I have really developed my skills as a designer in the modern world.
Researching in depth into topical issues such as gender and identity has really informed me deeper about this subject and I feel as though I have had my eyes opened to a wide range of different opinions and views. I have enjoyed researching into gender and looking at theories and stereotypes - even if they have been sexist and offensive at times. It has been interesting to look at such widely discussed and controversial issues such as gender fluidity and queer theory - I feel as though I have been informed not only as a young person, but as a designer too. Thorough research allows you to view the world in different ways.
I have found it really fun putting my theoretical research into play during my practical investigation, and it has been interesting putting theories into play during my design work. I have found the design work really engaging purely because I have been so interested in the theoretical work - I have found it has really pushed my design work along and kept me engaged. Food packaging is a particular area of interest for me so being able to write about it as well as put my own ideas into play has been something I have really enjoyed.
I feel like I can move on from this module with a greater and deeper not knowledge not just of food packaging, but of other useful elements such as designing for gender - and gender issues in general. This is definitely something I would like to revisit and look at again in future projects.
Monday, 17 December 2018
COP 3 - Ethical Considerations
There has been a level of ethical consideration during this project as it has dealt with sensitive topics such as gender and identity.
Throughout my theoretical work I was careful to not speak from a biased point of view and made sure I did not discuss any personal opinions during the essay. I made sure I discussed each element of gender fairly and gave a rounded view when talking about particular issues.
I took extra care not to appear as though I agreed with any comments made during my theoretical work and looked at any issues discussed as an outsider with an open mind.
In my practical investigation I lightly played on stereotypes from the research undertaken, but made sure I was not displaying or demonstrating any sexist or offensive views in my designs.
I believe I have approached the project well and have made considered and ethical decisions when discussing sensitive areas theoretically.
COP 3 - Project Statement
I believe my theoretical work and practical investigation link very well together and work alongside each other really nicely.
I started my essay by discussing gender and how it is portrayed in today's society. I discussed masculinity and how it can be seen to be in 'crisis' recently, especially in the media. Mark Latham, Anthony Clare and Grayson Perry all featured in my theoretical work as I discussed their views on modern masculinity. Similarly, I talked about femininity and how it has evolved over the years - and how it is now more of a stereotype of a women's role from the past. Following this I briefly discussed modern issues such as gender fluidity and queer theory, talking about how we can move away from stereotypical gender roles and break boundaries. This discussion on gender really informed my work as I was able to take lots of information away and put it into practice in a design sense. A stereotype would be that women spend more time in the kitchen than men, and men are less interested in cooking. I hinted towards this stereotype in my designs in multiple ways, one being naming the women's brand 'Lucy's Kitchen'. Adding a name gave it a personal, hand-crafted feel and the word ‘kitchen’ alluded to the idea that the food was fresh and homemade, something that research suggests women find appealing. Similarly, I added elements on the men's packaging to highlight quick cooking time and the 'no touch, no stir, no fuss' sticker highlighted the ease of cooking.
In my theoretical work I then went on to discuss 'man foods' and talked about products such as Yorkie chocolate and HP sauce. In this section of the essay I looked at how different products can be aimed at particular genders, and mentioned how Galaxy and Cadbury's Crispello chocolate is very much marketed towards women. It was informative to look at different ways products can be branded and marketed in order to appeal to particular genders, and I took a lot from this when it came to designing my own products. I was intrigued by the way products such as Yorkie and HP Sauce focused on the 'Real Man' demographic, where everything was based on being 'real'. I used this idea when I came up with the brand name for the men's product 'Proper Grub Food Co.'. ‘Proper’ was added as an informal British term, which implies that the food is ‘genuine’ or ‘real’. ‘Realness’ is something that Grayson Perry discusses in his book The Descent of Man, where he implies authenticity, genuineness and legitimacy is the ‘pinnacle of hetero masculinity’. I also felt that having ‘Co.’ at the end of the name added an industrial element that again hinted towards a more masculine feel.
In the 'Designing for Gender' section of my essay, I looked at research into the type of design that appeals most to each gender. Research suggested that women prefer free-flowing, curved or rounded shapes whilst men typically prefer more geometric shapes such as squares or straight-lined shapes. I also talked about how men respond better to cool tones and achromatic colours such as black and grey, whilst women generally prefer lighter and warmer colours. Knowing this, I chose to use a circular plastic tray to base my women's sleeve around, which was translucent white in colour. For the men's sleeve, I chose a black, rectangular shaped tray. I followed this pattern for the actual sleeve designs themselves, using darker, more earthy colours for the men's designs and lighter ones for the women's.
However, in my theoretical work I discussed how gender stereotypes can be taken too far, and instances such as Stonemill Bakehouse Wellbeing Bread line were mentioned. They used pink for the women's bread and a dark brown for the men's. The men's product was a hearty barley and rye bread fortified with magnesium, whilst the women's bread was a milder hemp and quinoa blend with 30% less dough used. After an angry backlash, Stonemill apologised for the products and discontinued their production. Research suggests that when gender stereotyping is taken too far, it patronises and alienates consumers. For this reason, I tried not to be too obvious with the decisions I made for my own designs, staying away from the typical 'blue for boys, pink for girls' approach. I used implicit cues in my packaging to hint at gender, rather than actually using 'for men' or 'for women'. This resulted in effective gender marketing without being sexist or stereotypical.
Overall, I believe my practical investigation reflected everything I had learnt and discussed in my theoretical work, and put lots of points of discussion into play physically.
I started my essay by discussing gender and how it is portrayed in today's society. I discussed masculinity and how it can be seen to be in 'crisis' recently, especially in the media. Mark Latham, Anthony Clare and Grayson Perry all featured in my theoretical work as I discussed their views on modern masculinity. Similarly, I talked about femininity and how it has evolved over the years - and how it is now more of a stereotype of a women's role from the past. Following this I briefly discussed modern issues such as gender fluidity and queer theory, talking about how we can move away from stereotypical gender roles and break boundaries. This discussion on gender really informed my work as I was able to take lots of information away and put it into practice in a design sense. A stereotype would be that women spend more time in the kitchen than men, and men are less interested in cooking. I hinted towards this stereotype in my designs in multiple ways, one being naming the women's brand 'Lucy's Kitchen'. Adding a name gave it a personal, hand-crafted feel and the word ‘kitchen’ alluded to the idea that the food was fresh and homemade, something that research suggests women find appealing. Similarly, I added elements on the men's packaging to highlight quick cooking time and the 'no touch, no stir, no fuss' sticker highlighted the ease of cooking.
In my theoretical work I then went on to discuss 'man foods' and talked about products such as Yorkie chocolate and HP sauce. In this section of the essay I looked at how different products can be aimed at particular genders, and mentioned how Galaxy and Cadbury's Crispello chocolate is very much marketed towards women. It was informative to look at different ways products can be branded and marketed in order to appeal to particular genders, and I took a lot from this when it came to designing my own products. I was intrigued by the way products such as Yorkie and HP Sauce focused on the 'Real Man' demographic, where everything was based on being 'real'. I used this idea when I came up with the brand name for the men's product 'Proper Grub Food Co.'. ‘Proper’ was added as an informal British term, which implies that the food is ‘genuine’ or ‘real’. ‘Realness’ is something that Grayson Perry discusses in his book The Descent of Man, where he implies authenticity, genuineness and legitimacy is the ‘pinnacle of hetero masculinity’. I also felt that having ‘Co.’ at the end of the name added an industrial element that again hinted towards a more masculine feel.
In the 'Designing for Gender' section of my essay, I looked at research into the type of design that appeals most to each gender. Research suggested that women prefer free-flowing, curved or rounded shapes whilst men typically prefer more geometric shapes such as squares or straight-lined shapes. I also talked about how men respond better to cool tones and achromatic colours such as black and grey, whilst women generally prefer lighter and warmer colours. Knowing this, I chose to use a circular plastic tray to base my women's sleeve around, which was translucent white in colour. For the men's sleeve, I chose a black, rectangular shaped tray. I followed this pattern for the actual sleeve designs themselves, using darker, more earthy colours for the men's designs and lighter ones for the women's.
However, in my theoretical work I discussed how gender stereotypes can be taken too far, and instances such as Stonemill Bakehouse Wellbeing Bread line were mentioned. They used pink for the women's bread and a dark brown for the men's. The men's product was a hearty barley and rye bread fortified with magnesium, whilst the women's bread was a milder hemp and quinoa blend with 30% less dough used. After an angry backlash, Stonemill apologised for the products and discontinued their production. Research suggests that when gender stereotyping is taken too far, it patronises and alienates consumers. For this reason, I tried not to be too obvious with the decisions I made for my own designs, staying away from the typical 'blue for boys, pink for girls' approach. I used implicit cues in my packaging to hint at gender, rather than actually using 'for men' or 'for women'. This resulted in effective gender marketing without being sexist or stereotypical.
Overall, I believe my practical investigation reflected everything I had learnt and discussed in my theoretical work, and put lots of points of discussion into play physically.
Sunday, 16 December 2018
COP 3 - Evaluation
Overall, I feel my designs worked really and were extremely informed by the research undertaken in my essay.
The main aim of the project was to demonstrate how the exact same product, the same meal with identical ingredients could be branded and packaged in two different ways in order to appeal to either a male or female audience.
A number of techniques and features were used in order to target each gender and when the designs are placed next to each other, you can see a clear differentiation between the two, despite the inner contents being the same. Each small element adapted in the designs all combine together to create two very different sleeves.
The women’s sleeves used lighter colours, more rounded shapes, script style typefaces, descriptive language and highlighted sustainable and eco-friendly elements such as organic produce and free-range eggs.
The men’s sleeves were vastly different - using much darker, earthier colours, geometric shapes, strong capitalized typefaces, simplified language and highlighted elements such as quick cooking time and high protein content.
I believe focusing on these unique features has allowed me to effectively target each gender in different ways. Research undertaken for my essay has greatly helped me understand how to design for gender and appropriately choose colours, shapes and typefaces. Research into consumer buying behavior according to gender also really helped me when it came to choosing what to include within the designs.
The laminated finish gives the sleeves a professional and finished look and helps make them look believable alongside other products from the market. Careful choices regarding colour and type also meant that the designs looked polished and refined when comparing them to real life examples.
To improve, I would have personally liked to have used a glossier varnish when laminating the sleeves, however this would have produced difficulties in folding the designs on this small scale.
COP 3 - Differences - Comparing Designs
Differences between the men's and women's designs;
Brand names - men's is simplistic, 'real/genuine' which men like - women's is based around handmade, home-cooked nature, word kitchen relates to this.
Both products are free range and organic, but only the women's designs feature this information. It is not present on the mens.
The men's designs feature small 'bullets' of information on the front regarding cooking time and ease of cooking. This appeals to men as research suggests they want to spend as little time in the kitchen as possible. I have not included these on the women's designs as it is less of an importance to them (stereotypically).
Descriptions of products - men's is a lot more simple and non-descriptive, women's includes descriptive words and extra bits of information e.g 'free range' 'low fat'.
Hierarchy of information - nutritional data is bigger and main focus on back of women's product as research suggests women are more interested in the nutrition of food and how it benefits them. The nutritional data is smaller and less significant on the men's design as men are less likely to look at this sort of thing.
Illustrations - men's are more freehand, simplistic and scrawled, which matches the nature of the chosen typeface. The women's are more considered and detailed - which reflects the hand-crafted theme of the design.
COP 3 - Final Products
Men's finished ready meals.
Women's finished ready meals.
Close up of men's lasagne sleeve.
Close up of women's macaroni sleeve.
Underside of men's macaroni cheese sleeve.
Underside of women's lasagne sleeve.
COP 3 - Sleeve Production
I decided to print the final designs onto some matte card that was as close as possible to the thickness of a real ready meal sleeve.
Once printed though, the designs were too matte, and I wanted a glossy finish so decided to laminate them.
The technician in the print room advised me that if I picked a high gloss for lamination then the net may not fold properly when piecing it together, so instead I chose a matte gloss finish - similar to a satin finish.
Cutting the net out with a craft knife proved too tricky as the card was too thick, so I just had to use a steady hand and some scissors instead! In industry, the net would be die cut for efficiency and precision.
I had to use a craft knife on the women's designs for the small holes at either side where the edge of the plastic tray came through.
Nets after cutting out - just before putting together.
I glued the nets together using a glue gun - I just put a small bit of glue onto the glue tabs - not dissimilar from the technique that would be used in the industry.
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