Before I started working on my designs on the packaging, I interviewed adults and teenagers and asked them what they find eye catching in stores so that I could base my designs off of what they wanted to see.
My first question that I asked was “What packaging colors stand out the most to you when looking for small drinks at a store/supermarket”? I gave them the options of light colors, dark colors, warm colors and cool colors. This question was asked to help me choose a color scheme for my packaging. Around 60% of the answers were cool colors, 30% were light colors, and 10% were warm colors. In order to narrow down the colors which people would like to see, I asked them “What colors come to mind when you think of anything organic”? The majority of the answers were green and blue colors. As the color blue is a safer packaging color for a product such as an organic energy drink, I decided to put together a color palette of the different shades of cool and light blue colors. This is what I came up with:
Now that I had figured out the color scheme for the packaging through the interview, I then went on to ask questions about whether they “prefer simple or elaborate designs for drink packaging and why”. Around 90% of the answers where simple designs, and the 0ther 10% were elaborate designs. The reason why so many people preferred simple designs over elaborate designs, was because it would be easier to see what the product is and to read any added information added on the product. If it was too busy, the name of the product would get lost in everything else on the packaging. For the name of the product, I decided to go with ‘O’ as it adds to simplicity of the packaging and I can help base my designs off of the name and shape of the letter ‘O’. The slogan is “Organic Energy Drink, for a healthier you”, thus explaining that the product is a healthier choice. The answers for the previous question coincidently went perfectly with my next question. I asked, “If you were to purchase an organic energy drink, would you want to know why and how the drink is organic? Would you want to know the benefits of organic drinks? Why”? Everyone who was interviewed answered yes and the majority explained that if they had the reasoning behind why they should choose this product over another based on it’s health benefits, then they would gladly read it.
Once I had a basic idea about what customers would want to see on the packaging, I asked a main question which helped me tie everything in together for my final designs; “What makes a product eye catching at a store/supermarket”? A lot of the answers I received explained that anything that looks different to what we normally see on shelves in stores would be eye catching. If something new is placed on a shelf that has a different design and concept to what is always on those shelves, then it will draw people in to wanting to pick the product up.
Finally, I asked “If you had a choice between a regular energy drink and an organic energy drink, would you do something better for the environment and for your health and choose the organic version, or would you stick to a normal energy drink”? Everyone gave the same answer and said they would go for the healthier choice and choose the organic energy drink.
All of these answers helped me understand exactly what people would want to see if they came across a new product on a store shelf and what would make them want to pick it up and possibly buy it. I then looked up some images of energy drinks normally found in stores, and found images like this:
I wanted to steer far away from any typical energy drink can already on shelves and go for a more inviting and healthier look. I also want to clearly state that the product is organic.
Once I had gathered all the information I needed from the interviews and images, I decided to start drawing up some ideas for the packaging.
I decided I wanted to use a material that you could also recycle and possibly use for creative purposes such as using the packaging to hold little flowers and plants, or maybe make your own little lamp shades by cutting a hole out of the top of the drink container. The material I decided on using was tin as it is a better choice in terms of recycling. I then wanted to add some color to the tin instead of leaving it glossy and dull like most other energy drinks, so I decided on coating the tin with a light blue eco-friendly pain with a matte finish, and then printing the text onto the tin with a light grey color which would match the top of the packaging. The text that will be printed on the tin will be in a clear type such as Helvetica as it is a commonly used type that looks modern and very clean-cut. On the back there would be a little section explaining the benefits of organic energy drinks, and another section on creative ways to reuse your drink container or how you can recycle it. The instructions on how to make little creations out of the packaging will be different for every drink which also invites customers to want to buy more and to share these ideas with friends and family.
These are the images I came up with for the packaging:
In conclusion, after coming up with a few designs, I decided to ask the people I interviewed which design they would want to pick up if they saw it on a shelf. 80% of the answers liked design #2 as not only was it eye catching because of it’s strange shape and design, it was also not too different and “out there” which they found design #1 to be. Design #3 was too similar to any other energy drink already on sale, and would not attract many customers. This goes to show that if a design is too ordinary or too absurd, not many people would be interested in picking up the product. If you have a nice balance of difference yet still have some similarities, more customers would be happy to check the product out.
