Beautiful Packaging

I have tried to avoid doing mass amounts of design blogging as I wanted my own design to take influences from my research into the different subjects rather than being subconsciously influenced by the designs. This is just a quick post to show some of the examples that have really grabbed my attention over the last few months.

The designs for fragrance brand retaW are always exceptional. The packaging has connotations of purity with its constant minimalist colour pallets and use of type.
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This packaging would be perfect for spices as it shows the product inside but allows an interesting canvas for type and information.

Nice Things

Built up a collection of photos over the past weeks since deciding what I was doing for each brief. Researching like this is a much more effective way of working for me. I find it sets off more ideas and has more subtle visual influences in my work, opposed to browsing the internet and looking at the same sort of design and not having an understanding of how it engages with its environment.

Pretty bad photo, but the new buses are beautiful. Designed by Heatherwick, a studio which I looked at last year for the moving image module. Looks slightly like an eye patch on the back but the retro interior with a modern sleek twist redeems it. Also one of the most economic buses in Europe!

The Type on 'The Future Gallery' in London really makes the most of its black canvas. The slick black tiles with the white grouting also fits perfectly with the signage. I think its this relationship between a piece of signage has to fit with its surroundings but exploit the space and colours to stand out. I need to start putting my designs into the context of lots of books, because of the variety of colours and sizes I will keep the colour to a minimal and make the type stand out as much as possible to separate the signage from the books.

Retro Johnston Sans - Lovely to see old typography amongst the new designs through out the underground, especially after the hosting of the Olympics over summer. It also embodies the sustainability of the typeface, its constant changing surroundings and somehow it still works and looks unique.

Nice way of storing the disk that came with this book called 'format perspectives' in the Carhartt store in Covent Garden. I will consider using thicker stocks that completely conceal the disk.

These slightly thinner tipped in pages in this book add an element of mystery and instantly draws me towards that section of the book. I had intentions of doing something similar with my typography books but I will have

Corner Shop

Some truly outstanding design work by North Design in collaboration with Richard Stepney, and really pushes the branding / packaging guidelines, something I aimed to do for both my science & bookshop brief. - Sourced from September Industry

For more than two decades Fourth Floor has been doing things differently – cutting and colouring hair with maximum application and minimal fuss from its bright, split-level salon atop a 1930s industrial building in the heart of Clerkenwell. Accessed via a goods lift, it has remained firmly below the radar while attracting a fiercely loyal clientele and whilst many come from the arts, media, design and the creative industries all share with Fourth Floor an independence of thought and outlook.

The simple use of colour on the packaging fits perfectly into the minimal internal layout of the shop. Also the minimal use of colour with only two tones and black (including the contents of the bottle) it really rounds off the product and results in a design that stands out more than those that have more ornamental elements added. I want to apply these same themes of minimalism to my bookshop / spice packaging to separate it from other over saturated designs in the market.

The type for the shop was created using a re-drawn and edited version of the typeface Skyline black. The logo emphasises how using an existing typeface as a template can still result in a unique and interesting piece of typographic design.
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Also the quality of the production of this signage window really embodies the process of good design, after the degree understanding colour and production will be key in my progress in how a brand communicates and maintains a consistent visual identity.

All of the deliverables maintain the same high level of design and integration of materials yet maintain the brand image. Need to decipher exactly what I am doing with my book brief as the current idea seems too random and poorly executed. I need to gather my ideas and design work to decide what direction to take next.

Simplification

After my previous research stemming from the Computer Arts magazine I decided to do some extra research into products and identities that work around the user, simplifying information or processes in the same way I aim to with my science of spice brief.

Berg - Mini Printer
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This mini printer from berg is pocket sized and works in tune with your smart phone taking relevant pieces of information through your twitter and cloud. It simplifies the information making it relevant and personal to you and prints out a beautiful little receipt of information that BERG refer to as a publication.
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The design of the receipts takes visual cues from modern and traditional design from lithography to pixel art.

This embodies the idea of simplification, customers are over crouded with an over complicated environment of advertising and visual clutter and its products like this that strive to change that.
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Find out more about this printer here




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Stockholm Design Lab - Askul
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Stockholm design lab embodies the ideologies of minimalism and simplification and this is obvious when trolling through their huge portfolio of truly ground breaking work.
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Their work for brand Askul stands out amongst the rest as the company has such a huge range of products the aim of the brief was to create a clear and graphic way of distinguishing each product.

Here the simple change of colour and size indicates the different products as well as the consistent numbers used across each range identifying each project but creating consistency across the brand.
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To fully understand the success of this brand its vital to see a much larger selection of their products. See more here

Here the use of colour and scale play a similar role but the considered colourful range communicates a more playful and fun side of the brand. I aim to use numbers to label my pre mixed spices using the table as an easy reference but I need to consider how to simplify the information surrounding what each spice should and can be used for.
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Science typefaces

A few typeface concepts based around science...

Breaking Bad
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Simple and obvious relation to the content of the programme featuring a Chemistry teacher who used his skills to start making crystal meth. Another reference to the periodic table. This also runs through in the opening credits with all the scientific abbreviations put into the text across the screen.

Science Museum
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Inspired by code digital typefaces. Decoding and sharing seemed an apt analogy for the museum and this subtle typographic decoding of the science museum logo / typeface is a perfect execution a simple and interesting idea.
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It also provided them with what they’ve never had – a unique wordmark to identify themselves which can be literally ‘stamped’ onto everything they do.

Science of Spice Explained

PLEASE READ - IMPORTANT

After realising that I have little to no documentation of where or how I came about my concept 'the science of spice' I felt it appropriate to do an extended blog post showing the sources and inspiration for the concept in chronological order.

My initial idea for the brief was based around the complication of using and storing spices. This was the basic problem that I wanted to solve but I needed a concept as a vessel to communicate my solution.

It started in my dissertation research into typeface design and modernist approaches on typography...

Beatrice Warde - The Crystal Goblet, 1955
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The most important thing about printing is that it conveys thought, ideas, images, from one mind to other minds. This statement is what you might call the front door of the science of typography.

This quote lead me to research into the word science after researching and understanding the science of cooking and using spices. It is a near perfect chemistry of mixing and experimenting.

Definitions of Science...
- A systematically organized body of knowledge on a particular subject
- A particular branch of scientific knowledge
- Ability to produce solutions in some problem domain
- knowledge accumulated by systematic study and organized by general principles

These definitions of science seemed perfect for spices given the aim / problem that I was aiming to solve with the brief.

Spice Cupboards

One of the main aspects of the initial brief was to create a project that not only educated people on the use of spices but to help maintain a chronological and organised method of storing them. This lead me to think about the different environments and methods of storing spices that surround me and how I could improve them. These are just a few environments I have looked at, both at different ends of the organised spectrum and both communicate a different audience but really helpful and interesting research none the less.

Student Cupboard
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No form of organisation what so ever and although a reasonably broad range of spices they all consist of very similar products.
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This shows me that ruling out a student orientated audience is appropriate for my product as it just wouldn't be suitable for their kitchen environment. A professional and upmarket audience would appreciate the tactile qualities that my product has to offer.

Shop Environment
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Usually organised my brand name or the format of the packaging my designs definitely wouldn't be suitable for this point of sale. Going back to my previous post of points of sale I will stick with the department store as a focus.

Parents Kitchen
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Organised alphabetically my parents are keen cooks and have at least some understanding of the importance of spice in cooking. This is more the sort of audience I am addressing with my product, wanting a chronological and organised supply of spices allowing for much easier usage.
Whether I choose to use alphabetical ordering or something more closely related to the periodic table is spices is something I am yet to decide, I will do some questionnaires and find out what people might find more appropriate.

Spice Blends

For the additional 20 boxes in the periodic table I felt it would be appropriate to make a list of spice blends that allow people who are less confident than others to introduce cooking with spices to their list of culinary skills. I will add recipes for each of these mixed spices as a basic set of guidelines for cooking with them.

Taken from here & here

1 - Ras Ela Hanout - "Head of the Market" (arabic)
Includes - ginger, cardamon, tumeric,
Can also include - cumin, coriander, mace, cubeb pepper, cayenne, cinnamon & dried rose petals
Used for - Water in rice or couscous, rubber on lamb or pork, used in pastille or traditional Moroccan chicken pie.
Arabic

2 - Chinese five Spice Powder
Includes - peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon or cassia, fennel seed, anise
Used for - A little bit to stir fried meat or vegetables or most Chinese foods
Chinese

3 - Chilli Powder
Includes - Ground chili peppers, cumin, garlic, oregano, salt
Used for - Stews, BBQ sauces, chips, general seasoning's
American (don't confuse with chili powder which is made from ground chili's)

4 - Georgia
Includes - Marajoram, dill, savoury, fenugreek, coriander & basil
Used for - Satsivi a chicken dish with a garlic and walnut sauce, Karcho, meaty soup
Soviet Republic

5 - Masala - 'Seasoning's' (arabic)
Includes - cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamon, coriander, ground black pepper
can also include - cumin, mace or bay leaves
Used for - meat, chicken or onion dishes, flavour rice based biriyanis or indian Quinoa Salad
Added at the end of cooking so it doesn't lose its potency
Arabic

6 - Old Bay Seasoning
Includes - Celery salt, mustard, red pepper flakes, black pepper, bay leaves, cloves, allspice, ginger, mace, cardamom, cinnamon and paprika.
Used for - Steamed crabs or shrimp, baked chicken, chips, popcorn, or hot crab dip
Baltimore 1939


7 - Za'atar 'wild thyme' (Arabic)
Includes - Wild herb, summer savoury, oregano or marjoram, sesame seeds, sumac
Used for - bake into bread, dip for pita, mixed with yoghurt, seasoning eggs
Arabic

8 - Shicimi Tagarashi
Includes - Red pepper, citrus peel, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, rapeseeds, Szechuan pepper, nori flakes
Used for - table seasoning, sprikled over soups, noodles or grilled meats, pickled ramps
Japanese

9 - Dukkah
Includes - Coriander, cumin, sesame seeds, salt, black pepper, thyme, ground roasted almonds, pistachios or hazel nuts
Used for - Coat grilled meats, sprinkle over salads, chicken skewers

10 - Curry Powder
Includes - coriander, cumin, turmeric, fenugreek
Can also include - ginger, garlic, red pepper, mustard seeds, cloves, black pepper
Used for - all kinds of dishes, chicken salad to meat loaf or burgers

11 - Tabil
Includes - Caraway, coriander, cayenne, garliv place,
Used for - soups, stews, chickpea soup, roasted vegetables, grilled fish
Tunisian - (blend with a bit of oli)

12 - Herbes de la garrigue
Includes - Redolent, rosemary, thyme, savoury & bay leaves
Used for - grill roasted leg of lamb, massage into torn pieces of stale pain for bread salad
South of France

13 - Berbere
Includes - chilis, paprika
Used for - Stews, vegetables, soup, garnish for deviled eggs
Ethopia

14 - Panch Phoron
Includes - Cumin seeds, fennel seeds, Nigella seeds, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds
Used for - fish curries, vegetable curry, dry rub on pork shops or lamb
Northern India

15 - Tempero Baiano
Includes - white pepper, oregano, parsley, chili
Also includes - turmeric and cumin, marjoram, basic and bay leaves
Used for - season a pot of beams, shellfish boil or a mess of sharp greens

16 - Thai Seven Spice 
Includes - salt, chilli powder, garlic, ginger, coriander seed, lemon peel, cassia, cumin, red chillies, white pepper, green pepper, onion powder, star anise, sugar, jalapeno pepper, cayenne pepper, cloves
Used for - Stir fry, pork prawns or beef

17 - Apple pie spice
Includes - Cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice
Used for - Apple pie or other sweet seasonings

18 - Vadouvan
Includes - Shallots, garlic, onions, fenugreek, turmeric, curry leaves, nutmeg, cloves, pepper flakes
Used for - Gourmet cooking, soups, cream sauce

19 - Quatre Epices 'four spices' (French)
Includes - Ground pepper, cloves, nutmeg and ginger
Used for - Soup, ragout, pot cooked dishes, vegetable preparations
French / Arabic mix

20 - Mixed Spice
Includes - Cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice
Used for - baking or to compliment fruits or other sweet foods

Point of Sale

Given my target audience and the desired quality I wish to achieve with this project I feel that a supermarket environment wouldn't be the most suitable as a point of sale. This will have a huge effect on the format that my designs take, I have already specified a gift orientated market allowing the budget for the packaging to be extended.
I could possibly exploit a supermarket environment for aspects of the brief such as the Petri dishes of spice mixes.

Oli suggested that I look into selfridges and how they sell and present products. After a quick discussion with some peers I feel this will be a perfect place to market and sell the products given the audience it markets towards their and the presentation of their products.

This is one of the ranges on the website, which has a obvious reference to my designs.
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Exploiting the Christmas market is a possibility but that limits the products value for the rest of the year.
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Also looking at the quality of the products that they already sell, if my designs go to plan they would fit perfectly into the market that selfridges markets.
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John Lewis is another place that the products may be suitable to market towards.

Spice Packaging Examples

General research into some spice packaging

 How the spice packaging fits with a rack specifically for the product is a nice approach to think about.
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This vintage feel creates a beautiful aesthetic and would work well in many different kitchen environments but I feel its targeted towards a slightly different audience from what I have been working towards.
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Hard to categorise I think this may have been a do it yourself project.

Placement within the kitchen is another aspect to consider, possibly just as important as the point of sale. I want a product people are happy to have on the side not more spice packaging that adds clutter to cupboards.
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Again its the clear packaging here that I feel has more success than the others, even being pushed to the label on the product - also something to consider for my packaging.
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Gift Market

This packaging for tea exploits the test tube format (I hadn't seen this before I thought of the idea!). Also the rotary screen printed text on the bottles adds a minimalist feel to the product connoting quality and price.
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This was packaging for a range of high quality teas and is a perfect example of a product people will be happy to place on the side in their kitchen environment.
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This may be possibly slightly more aimed at a gift market.

The square format would be a beautiful shape to exploit the sides and interaction with the packaging when put together as a set just like these.
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Although I'm not working with any square packaging I can still take a lot from the exploration and exploitation of the format they worked with here.
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Retail market

Spice Packaging examples

I feel this is another influential part of focusing my target audience, by analysing these products I will be able to get an idea of the price ranged and people that might be buying each product.

After writing the blog post I composed this list of audiences and target markets
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The gift market
Selling my product as a high end range of spices with packaging people can re-use
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Specialist market
Spices that can't be bought at your local supermarket, directed towards those with a passion for cooking and possible cook as a profession.
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Family / Busy audience
An audience that possibly doesn't have the spare time to spend cooking meals from scratch but do enjoy the flavours and opportunities that spices bring to the table. This could include families, people with large work loads.
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Less confident cooks
Many people may not be used to cooking with spices and may have little knowledge of how to use them. I could exploit this market by promoting the products as a range that build up your confidence eventually meaning they can cook without the pre made spice packs.
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Quality Design
People who spend a lot of money making their kitchens look exactly how they want tend to be willing to spend a bit more money on something that will fit and work in their cooking environment.
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Passionate!
Spices are a specialist element of cooking, I need to remember that I am dealing with people who want to cook or want to learn how to cook! This ties in well with my periodic table of spices that will allow people to learn and develop their cooking skills.

Dirty Apron Foods by Glasfurd & Walker
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Simple / minimal packaging that appeals to an audience who appreciate good design and want something that will look good in their kitchen.
Packaging is adaptable to new products with the simple die cut and clear designing revealing the natural colours created by the spices.

The type also communicated to the same audience with connotations of quality.
Finally the clear packaging makes it easy to see how much is left in each product.
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Sheffield & Sons by Bird Son Gregory
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Again minimalist themes allowing the buyers to see the product inside. More connotations of quality putting the product at the higher end of the pricing spectrum.

Whole spices deliver the product to an audience with the time to cook and prepare food, might not be as suitable to busy parents.

Has a very local feel with themes of nature using pastel colours. Look as if they would be sold at a farmers market? Again focusing further into a specific audience who care about the journey the spices have taken before purchase.

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igo Spices by Noon
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These igo packaging designs are for a specialist range of spices that entice chefs and themes of gourmet food, with the structural design capturing the exotic mystery of the line of spices

Doesn't follow the normal clear packaging of the spices which although it builds a story of mystery it doesn't exploit the natural beauty of the spices inside and it makes it hard to differentiate between products.

Very specific audience - those who are passionate about food and cooking with spices.

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1854 Hierbas by Estudio Clara Ezcurra
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Reaches an audience with less time to prepare food, packaging stands out on the shelf with bright colour scheme and cardboard expanding the physical size and presence of the product.

Packaging also allows the products to be hung rather than places on shelves adding more points of sale could have a huge effect on the amount of sales the product achieves.

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The Spice Outfit by Mondovox
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Interesting concept following the gangster activity in Chicago in the 20's and 30's.
The product is definitely aimed more towards the gift market with its expensive packaging making it something that people wouldn't buy as an every day spice.

However because the product comes in reusable tins which make the price tag more appropriate - something I could consider for making me products!

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Spice Entice by Honey Creative
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These pre mixed spices also have a focused audience, people with a passion for food but without the time to prepare meals from scratch.
The packaging stands out on the shelf and still allows people to see the contents and natural colour of the spices.

The designs also have recipes on the back with a list of ingredients again making the cooking process less stressful and time consuming.

Spices Audiences

I feel determining the audience for my Science of Spices brief is the next major stage in the process. This is a basic summary of the existing spices on the markets (not brand specific) exploring who would buy each type and why...

Pre Mixed Spices
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For people with busy schedules who want to add something a bit different to their food
People who are less confident at cooking
People in a rush

Whole Spices
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A lot of spare time to crush and use the spices
Appreciation for food
Understanding of the benefits of buying who spices
Chefs

Dried / General Spices
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For people who know what they are doing in the kitchen
Cooking foods from scratch
Chefs

Science Equipment / Ideas

After my feedback in the crit I wanted to think about what other formats the packaging could take, one of the suggestions was Petri dishes, which could be much more appropriate than test tubes. I was also thinking about how this could separate the different types of spice products to appeal to different markets.
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Test Tubes
Could contain pure spices, for people who like the mix and make meals from scratch, or to appeal to the same audience for when they have a bit more time to cook.
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Petri Dishes
These could contain some pre mixed spices to give people easier alternatives for weekday cooking - parents etc.
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Crucible Pot
Could be used as packaging that people could mix their own spices in and because of its lid it could be a place to store the pre mixed spices.
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Dropper
Could be used for something like Tabasco? A product where putting too much on can have a huge impact on the food.
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Other
I was also thinking about creating packs of spices that could be added to the food once it has been cooked, this could be something that moves away from the love of cooking but again expands the audience of people that would buy it. Also moves it away from being a present or

Some more science / chemistry equipment
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Gas bottle, evaporating dish, beaker, watch glass, wash bottle, crucible and cover

Spice Brief

I have been getting too carried away thinking about concepts and ideas without asking the questions and doing the research that will genuinly help me progress with this brief.

This is a basic array of questions that I need to address in order to progress with the brief.

Spices are the key ingredient to gourmet cooking but gourmet cooking doesn't happen everyday...

What spices do people buy?
What spices do people use?
What do they care about?
How do they prepare food?
What role do spices play?
How and where are spices sold?

People with families / children
During the week will be busy and stressful so spices are less frequently used.
How has this changed everyday cooking?
Have spices gone from being main ingredients too more of a finishing touch?
Is there a gap in the industry?

Herbs & Spices Research

I have been putting my research into an iDesign file to keep my blog a bit more organised, this is a collection of facts, statistics and general research into herbs and spices. I was starting to think about how the codes in the periodic table could be applied to spices but got a bit stuck. Some really useful information in this document, particularly about how the heat of chilli's and spices are measured, another possible route to explore for the packaging designs.

Spice Ideas

Spices are commonly misused and have the potential to completely ruin a meal, but they also have a massive potential for intense flavours and beautiful cooking.

One of my main aims for this brief was to create a way of visually representing the best ways of cooking and somehow categorising the spices and creating a reference book to help people use them. For this I need to learn the main differences and ways of categorising spices in relation to heat, origin / location, their standard uses e.g. Poultry, fish, salads etc.

I also want to create a similar reference guide to that of a periodic table allowing the packaging to be very minimal with just codes on the top of the spices and a simple reference table...
                                                                                                                                                     

Main sources of origin for spices - Great info HERE
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Central & Northern Europe, Mediterranean region, Asia - North/ South/ East/ West/ Central, Africa, America, Australia. - Think about creating icons for each, possibly using geographical shapes of the areas of letter codes?
                                                                                                                                                      

Main uses for spices
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Salads, poultry, beef, sausages, desserts, sweets, pastries, sauces, stews, soups, fish, breads, pickling, pork roasts, custards, fruit desserts, vegetables, stuffing,
                                                                                                                                                     

Main places that use spices as key ingredients
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Curries, Mexican, Vietnamese, Thai, Spanish, Italian,
                                                                                                                                                      

Other Lists could include
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Medicinal Purposes, use as preservatives,  cooking