COP 2 - Study Task 06 - COP 3 Proposal

1. RESEARCH QUESTION​

Masculinity in packaging design.

2. RATIONALE (Why do you want to research this topic? What impact will this have on your practice?)​

Packaging is my main area of interest within graphic design and I am also very interested in the idea of masculinity, what it means, what it's made of etc. In my previous COP essays I have looked at consumerism, the way things are branded and how packaging can influence our decisions. I think it would be beneficial to my practice to focus on masculinity within packaging design, and I feel it would help deepen my knowledge and understanding of packaging design from a different angle.

3. CONTEXTS (What are the immediate contexts in which your theoretical and practical research will be situated? Political? Social? Technological? Aesthetic? Cultural?)​

Social - how masculine products are perceived by society.

Cultural - does this differ in different cultures?

Aesthetic - key factors in masculine design.

4. THEORETICAL APPROACH (Identify no more than two potential theories that will help structure your research – must be appropriate to the theme/question)​

Masculine products are always designed in a certain way - is this true? Why is this? Gender ideals etc.

5. METHODS (Secondary: theorisation, semiotic analysis, textual analysis, content analysis, discourse analysis / Primary: surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations​

Content analysis of men's material - magazines, websites etc.

Surveys on products attractive to men.

Observations of packaging and it's aesthetics.

6. PRACTICAL OUTCOME (what do you plan to produce/develop?)​
Potentially challenging the norms in masculine design? Creating something different to the usual. OR creating the 'epitome' of masculine design  - ideal masculine product.

7. RESOURCES (what resources will you need to access?)​

Shops - access market, see products in flesh.

Library - reading on masculinity and masculine related theories.

Men! - get opinions from gender point of view.

8. SUMMER READING LIST (find 5 books that you will endeavour to read in preparation for CoP3 - related to either 3 or 4 above)​

The Descent of Man - Grayson Perry 

Man Up - Jack Urwin

I Am Sorry to Think I Have Raised a Timid Son - Kent Russell

Men in The Mirror - Tim Edwards

Gender and Culture - Rosa Mayreder

9. TIME MANAGEMENT (Plan of actions from now until 14th Dec 2018)

Beginning of summer - properly refine research question

Summer holidays - reading, research, gathering resources

September - analyse research and start piecing together 

October - essay writing and refining, practical planning

November - start practical

December - finalize and hand in

TITLE​

Challenging masculine norms in packaging.

OUTLINE OF THE BRIEF​

Create a mens product that is branded in a way that is opposite to the norms / or rebrand a manly packaging as more femine. Make a mans product appeal to a woman?

BACKGROUND​

Men's product market - food or personal care

Trends in aesthetics

DELIVERABLES​

1 or multiple products (range)


MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS

Printed outcomes

Design boards x 6

Evaluation

COP 2 - Study Task 07 - Project Statement/Evaluation

The focus for my essay was on food packaging and how it can effect what we choose to eat. I chose to base my essay on packaging as this is my biggest area of interest within graphic design and I find the psychology of packaging really interesting. The essay began with a few statements on obesity and how it has grown over the years, especially due to major fast food chains such as McDonalds. It then went on to discuss a more scientific approach, using Professor Wolfram Schultz's research to demonstrate the correlation between signals in the brain and the way packaging is designed. Colour theory was another main focus in the essay, and there was a discussion about how different coloured packaging can effect how our brain perceives the product. I also discussed how consumers are growing wise to the food packaging industry and new and improved techniques are being used in order to appeal to consumers in the best way. There were pointers about how value brands, own-brands and luxury brands are designed in order to appeal to different target audiences and the way these can be perceived. This led to a discussion on class and weight, and how our financial status affects what we buy and what we eat. Trends in food packaging were mentioned and how different approaches appeal to certain markets. The essay was summed up by asking a few questions - If healthy food were to use some of the same techniques, colours and approaches, would we be more inclined to make better choices? Could the way food is packaged be the solution to this health crisis?

That being said, the practical project was based around all the points made in the essay. The idea was to re-brand healthy snacks such as carrot sticks in the same way that junk food is packaged, in order to better appeal to a younger audience. I took pointers from the essay such as colours and colour theory and incorporated this into my own work (red and yellow = attracts the brain). I used characters to add a friendly and familiar tone to the packaging and appeal to a younger audience. Following a substantial amount of research into the way junk food is packaged, I included a variety of different techniques/elements into my own packaging design in order to fit in with the market. An example of this was movement and energy - 'explosive' shapes added an extra 'fun' dynamic to the design.
The main purpose of the practical project was linked to the main essay question - 'How can packaging influence our food choices, and can it persuade us to eat healthier?' and I believe I responded to this question really well and produced and outcome strongly based on pointers from the essay itself.