Post Legges and Wye Valley Visit & Q+A

After visiting Legges butchers and Wye Valley Brewery on 26th October, I came away feeling challenged. I think it will be tough to come up with something but I'm looking forward to it!

My initial thoughts are about what 3 items I'm going to include in the pack, how I want the packaging design to look and what type of packaging I'm going to go for.

I have come away with lots of notes and feel very knowledgeable about the two brands now..my next step is to start on some research into: 

* their competitor brands

* other beer related gift packs

* sustainable packaging & re-usable materials.

I stole this image from Andy (I wanted to take a picture of it myself but I forgot!) I like the traditional feel of the hops bag. It would be good to include this look and feel into my design.
I'm having trouble getting the images I took, off my phone and onto the computer, so for now, here's a list of the images I had:
1. the hops hanging up on the beams in the bar area
2. the hops in the basket that were passed around
3. A few photos of the Legges condiments that we could choose from to put into the gift pack.

Natural Packaging for Oranges (Mini task)

by Nathan, Vishnu and myself.

This was our outcome for the mini task of creating a natural packaging for a couple of oranges. Our idea was to use twigs to hold the oranges in place, all tied together with string. It is done in a way that the oranges do not fall out. If done professionally, I think the twigs would be shaved of the bark, which would give it a more aesthetically pleasing design (and also make sure there are no creepy crawlies living in them)! The handle is wrapped with string, which is inspired by the traditional Japanese packaging.

Task 03: Design a theoretical prototype multi use shoe/trainer/boot box

This is a very basic and rough sketch (I am away on holiday this week but wanted to have something on my blog for you to look at. This is what I've managed to do so far but will develop it further for the session on 26th Oct).

My idea is for a shoe box that you can use as a CD holder as well. The measurements of the average shoe box don't match with a cd's width, however, I would make sure that the measurements of the shoebox are made to fill the space inside with cd's, (I will sketch something out to show you what I mean).

I was thinking of having my box made out of wood as it has to be sturdy enough to hold cds but I'd like it so that it's not too heavy either, so that people can actually carry the shoebox home after their purchase. Otherwise, I'd think of using folding cardboard without using glue but I'm not sure if that would be sturdy enough for the cds?

I called my shoe brand 'Feet Beat' because it paired with the fact that the shoebox can hold people's cds (the 'beat' to do with music). And (excuse the bad drawing) the white space on the box is a music note enlarged. I haven't had time to experiment with different colours other than scribble them down next to each other to see what worked best but when I have more time I'd like to develop this further. To print the colours onto my box, I'd use a company that used vegetable inks.

Vegetable Ink Printing

I found this video first. The sound is awful but you can still make out what is being said, and despite being very short and sweet, it is quite informative. This is more of an overview of vegetable ink printing and details the benefits of using it and the disadvantages of normal ink.
I also came across this next one, and found it interesting how this woman has converted her company to eco-friendly printing.

 

I think this meets a few points of the eco-design manifesto especially point 2. "design to minimise the ecological footprint" and point 5. "design to exclude the use of substances toxic or hazardous to humans." She talks about normal ink containing chemicals that are harmful and how she wanted to use less harmful ink, therefore switched to soy inks.

I think it could also meet point 14. " Design to create more sustainable products/materials/service products for a more sustainable future" for the obvious reason that vegetable ink is more eco-friendly by not containing harmful chemicals.

Up and Running

Wahey!