Project statement

Throughout this project the discussion of sustainable responsibility when examining packaging remains an issue that is complicated by the relationships between the consumer, company and designer. To produce a sustainable package that is completely fair each stage of the chain needs to accept that they have an equal role to play when discussing responsibility. Research looked at; sustainability in the packaging industry, relationship s and responsibility, the whole life cycle of a product and perceptions of packaging.

The extensive theoretical research for the extended essay informed the practical outcome for this brief. Carlsberg was one of my main case studies which I looked into. It was one of the better solutions for sustainable packaging.

In depth research that was done throughout this brief informed every deign decision that was completed in order to form the outcome. To produce a sustainable package where responsibility is fairly shared responsibility needs to be accepted. In relation to the practical, the company has already accepted their responsibility, this brief is aimed at getting the consumers to accept their responsibility for sustainable packaging, which comes at the end of the brief.

One downfall for this brief was I spent more time on the essay rather than the practical which in turn lent I didn’t have as much time as I would have hoped.

The final outcome for this brief has gone hand in hand with the extended essay, as Europen’s request for packaging carrying out the functions in the most sustainable way possible has been met through reducing plastic and having a purely digital campaign thus reducing the paper waste and other resources that may not be replenished.

Mock Up Cans and Poster

This design was deemed as a bit too childish and christmassy for this project. ^^

^^ This design was the final design picked for this project, showing clearly the professional and slick finish of the design whilst communicating the correct message to the consumers, asking them to recycle their cans once they have used them. 

Launch Campaign Poster Designs, Crit and final poster

 

This was the final can design that was chosen by myself and my peers as it was deemed the best can that fit the Carlsberg company vibe whilst also having a strong yet subtle sense of the need to recycle.

1 . 2 .  . 

As previous research has informed me the already existing Carlsberg posters are very minimalist with a fun aspect to them. I wanted this poster design to mirror my can design, being subtle yet affecting. However I didn't want the recycling aspect to be as subtle as it is in this design. I believe the use of the same icon throughout creates a strong brand identity for the company's innovative new design for six packs.

The campaign is purely digital in order to save the waste of paper and other resources that may ot be replenished.

Start Snapping with Carlsberg was a small fun line to include, I also thought that it was memorable I also decided to make the issue of recycling obvious for the consumer to see in order for them to take their fair share of the responsibility for sustainability. My favourite designs were 1 and 2 as they portrayed a more professional and aesthetically pleasing design. 

In order to gain some feedback for my designs I went again to a small peer led crit to gather some feedback, I took some notes and prepared for the crit by writing some notes as the last crit i went to i didn't prepare as well as I thought I could get more out of it if I was prepared :

Then from this I had a clear idea of what was wanted and believed that the design below was best to use. The snap, share, save going around in a circle is to link back to the life cycle of a product. 

Final 4 chosen and crit

After my other crit from all my can designs I decided to refer back to my designs and chose 4 that I thought had potential for the brand idea then referred further to my peers to gain knowledge on what was the best design to take forward and use for my poster design. Everyone in my peer focus group chose the first (top left) design as I explained to them that the new look, by Taxi Studio, uses a refined hop leaf to bring together the portfolio and help consumers better navigate the range as Carlsberg sets its sights on the premium market. From this they deducted that this would be the best design to use for the poster launch campaign as it is professional and slick whilst conveying the message subtly about the recycling that they need to do. This is shown through the can design and the text on the information section of the design. 

The design of the can shows a clear brand identity, using aspects that Carlsberg have already used in their designs. Not only this but the pattern is also something they have used in previous limited edition cans as shown in previous research. My favourite aspect of these designs is the subtlety of the sustainability aspect. As you do not really notice it unless you can get up close with the can. Thus showing that it would not change their audience because of the design as it looks similar to other designs however they could increase their number of consumers purchasing them due to the sustainability aspect of it. 

Can Design Crit

I had a mini crit with a couple of my peers in order to further my designs, The feedback was useful and helped me gather an understanding of what a wider body of people thought was the best steps for m to take to develop my designs. I showed them each design gong through what I had been thinking and the different designs I did for each can.

Can Design 5

For this design I decided to make the sustainability aspect more prominent by using a different icon that I designed. I thought it would be too overloading if I used the other sustainability icon in the background aswell as this. I also played around more with where the Carlsberg logo should go for this can. As I looked back on my research and saw that Carlsberg do change it up with some going all the way around the can design and others being not so prominent.

Can Design 4

For this design I decided to creating the hop leaf prominent without being christmassy and too childish. I tried initially  by enlarging the hop leaf, I thought this was a good representation of what I was trying to achieve through the subtlety of both aspects - the hop leaf and the sustainable icon. I think the rest of the designs are a bit too childish considering my target audience is . 18+ drinkers and the other designs were not professional and in-keeping with Carlsberg's most recent rebrand.

Methods of research

- Google Books
- Journals - online mainly
- Books
- Websites

I found online journals most interesting to look at and read as they did not take me as long to go through and gather information from. Below is my Bibliography for my essay to show my references.

Bibliography

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Appendices

BillerudKornäs – A consumer Panel, September 2017 (BillerudKornäs, 2017)

EUROPEN – European Organisation for Packaging and the Environment, 2011 (Europen, 2011)