Practical, Designs - OUGD601

The first design was the children's packaging, a character was created and bright colours used to make the piece fun and playful. The hamster can be seen eating spaghetti, there will be a small cut out window so that you can see the pasta through the box. The typeface used is fun and childlike and the information has been highlighted in a way consistent with other children's packaging.

These are some initial ideas for the male packaging. Using colours associated with men variants could be made. Type is bold and capitalised to show strength and the packaging is kept quite basic to show no nonsense. 

Above are the female designs. The colours once again are supported by research on female stereotypes. Shapes have been used to create some feminine looking patterns and the typeface is delicate and thin. 

For the neutral packaging there was a bit more leeway with the design but initially the packaging had to show ideas. Either keep it simple or make the design a bit more abstract. Colours and type can be based on research and the shapes also follow this. The design as a whole should stay quite basic with nothing too fancy on.

After sending the designs to peers they were critiqued. The favoured designs are above and once printed were send again. 

The reasoning for these designs to be chosen were based on the initial thoughts from peers on what best stereotypes the different audiences. The neutral packaging had the most variants and the piece above was chosen based on the face it stayed mostly neutral using basic colours and shapes to explain what the product was. After printing the male and female packaging was questioned. The female looked a little too much like a perfume of beauty product so new designs will be mocked up. The male packaging looked too close to the design of some specsavers products based on the colour and the design as a whole. There were no issues with the children's packaging and was quite often the favourite design. 

Practical, Making a net - OUGD601

The chosen product for the packaging is spaghetti. This requires a net so a box can fit around the pasta.

The box itself would have to be measured to make sure that pasta could fit into it. The box measures, h300mm x w80mm x d20mm. This would fit a standard 500g packet of spaghetti inside. Usually spaghetti comes in plastic packaging as it is easier to control and keep fresh. A card outer layer would almost be irrelevant to the design but it has been done prior to this. On another note the whole project is fiction and is just to demonstrate how colour, type and shape can affect someone's view on a product.

Initially the design had smaller tabs to fit the box together. After printing this proved harder for the box to close effectively so the tabs had to be made a similar size to the depth of the box. 

 Once the tabs has been adjusted the box could be remade. This time the tabs matched the depth of the box and on the lid small slits were made on the top tab so that the side tabs could slot in more efficiently.

Practical, Deciding on the Product - OUGD601

The chosen the product to make packaging for is, spaghetti. Food items really have no need to be stereotyped as they're for everyone to consume. This may be a slightly harder task as most food products stereotype through wording, for women they talk about losing weight, for men it's about bulking and building muscle and for kids it's for the parents about nutrients and vitamins. As none of this will be included the design will have to solely focus on other aspects to bring out the genders. 

Practical, Initial Designs - OUGD601

These are the initial ideas for some packaging, the product that needs to be packaged has not yet be decided but for not type, colour and shapes can be experimented with. 

Neutral black and white designs.

Male and Female designs based on research.

Girls and Boys packaging taking Male and Female ideas and adding in some shapes.

Experimental neutral packaging inspired by TomPigeon alongside Children's design using fun character.

Practical, Neutral Packaging - OUGD601

When searching for gender neutral packaging it became apparent that some aspects of gender stereotyped products were used within the making. It is how the product is designed and the tools are used that make up the stereotype it seems in some cases. It also depends on the viewer of the product. If we take these images as a whole though it can be seen that colours are often quite neutral or pastel, the type is bold but not too male oriented and the shapes are basic. A lot of the designing stays quite basic and does not overcomplicate the final product. Usually the designs just state exactly what they are and what they do as they have no need to be aimed at any particular target audience. 

Practical, Men's Packaging - OUGD601

Dark and bold are the first two things that spring to mind. Almost all initial results when searching packaging for men turn up black packaging or that of dark and saturated colours. This once again shows the strong, bold stereotype that comes with the male gender. Some interesting ideas have been used in these pieces, such as foiling or using a gloss and matt texture together. This seems to create another element within male packaging showing some form of class or luxury.

Practical, Children's Packaging - OUGD601

Looking at children's packaging not much searching had to be done. It is clear based on previous research and the images above colour is keye. The packaging must be bright and stand out, the piece as a whole must also be fun. Often the designers have opted to add mascots or characters to their products once again to reinstate the product is for children. This will be something to consider for the project to create some playful and fun colour and characters to go onto packaging.

Practical, Women's Packaging - OUGD601

A quick search on google gave away packaging for women. The main selling point in most of these images is that of the colouring. Pink seems to be the key to creating a stereotyped piece of packaging for women. Not all the pieces use pink but will often go for a softer pastel design to again reinforce the stereotype. The shapes that are used within as well as the typeface is often very delicate and in some instances floral patterns can be seen.

Practical, Shape - OUGD601

Similar to looking at the use of colour and type within stereotyping the use of shape also needs to be considered. Whether it be the shape of the packaging or the shapes on the packaging themselves. Colour will be used within the shape process and elements learned from type theories will also be used such as bold and sharp for men and delicate and curvy for women. For children the shapes must be playful.

Practical, Typeface - OUGD601

Once again research has lead to a new site with a lot of information regarding typography and stereotyping. The site talks about how typefaces are stated as feminine and masculine through their use of shape. 

• Script type usually classed as feminine
• Bold san-serif type usually male

This is because men are seen in society as strong so a typeface that is bold with sharp corners reflects that of a man's personality. Whereas women are delicate, with curves that wouldn't hurt anyone. This is societies view and has been taught to us on a mass scale everything should be personal prefference not what someone has told you to enjoy. 

http://www.alphabettes.org/type-and-gender-stereotypes/

Practical, Colours - OUGD601

Colour theory can be used to gain knowledge of what colours can complement each other and work to create a product that stands out and pleases the eye. This is helpful when creating packaging for a product.

We can also look at what colours are generally associated with what genders:

Pink is usually associated to girls

Blue is usually associated to boys

Yellow is more gender neutral

Looking into these ideas lead to a blog about colours and gender stereotyping. The blog is not fully academic but it does in fact have some good points. Some points quote articles that are a bit dated and maybe not relevant in today's society but it definitely helps to understand societies views on colours within gender stereotyping. 

http://munsell.com/color-blog/why-that-color-gender/

Practical, Research - OUGD601

A lot of research will have to be put into the practical side, most of which can come from the writing itself. It has to be known; what colours are stereotyped to which people, the same goes for typefaces and design.

Look into:

• Colour Theory
• Psychology
• Packaging
• Advertising
• Branding
• Products/Product Design

From the writing side information has been found about branding, packaging and advertising and how all three of these link together to stereotype products. Brands use consistent design to gain loyalty from their consumers and make their products easier to distinguish to be bought. Some stereotyping happens within the selling process to make the product easier to buy such as feminine hygiene products and products for children to show off sizing rather than just gender.  It wouldn't be appropriate to stereotype something such as a toothbrush but we do need to know what it is, what it does and how well it does it otherwise the whole process of purchasing would become so much harder. Companies use this to their advantage sometimes and stereotype ridiculous things such as, children's sweets, taste does not differ from one sex to another it differs in every human. Kids are going to like sweets therefore if you package one for boys and one for girls they are going to want the one that says it's for them.

Practical, Brief - OUGD601

Create Packaging for a product that should not be stereotyped. Use gender and child stereotypes to design and create a gender neutral piece. 

The packaging must only use stereotypes based on;

• Colour
• Type
• Shape

The Packaging must all have the same wording and use the same net to have a consistent look between all of them.

Use research from the writing side of the module and from new visual findings.

Look on:

• Behance
• Pinterest
• Google

Find articles on colour, type and shape.

Packaging Ideas:

• Food
• Hygiene such as toothbrushes or soap
• Technology

Practical, Initial Idea - OUGD601

The point of the critical writing isn't solely to look at gender stereotyping within branding packaging and advertising but it seems after a lot of research it is the most prominent and the one society has an issue with most making it the most relevant for the practical response. The idea is to create some sort of packaging for a product that has no need to be stereotyped and stereotype it in different ways. Initially ideas are to stereotype for both men and women and then one for children. One piece will then be made for 'everyone' as it were with no purposeful stereotyping. The products will have all the same wording on and will solely focus on typeface colour and shape to see how this can affect stereotyping. Adding words like for her or for him would give away the idea too fast, instead this is suppose to be subtle as a sort of test to see if products can be stereotyped based on these factors alone.

Men:

• Sharp typeface
• Blue
• Bold

Women:

• Script
• Pink
• Delicate

Children:

• Colourful
• Playful
• Stands out

Non stereotyping:

• Keep Neutral

Practical, Critique - OUGD601

The first critique session went quite well in developing some ideas for the practical section. An idea that had been around from pretty early on was to create or recreate some packaging that would not be stereotyped and just states what the product inside the packaging actually does and is. This idea was said to be quite a good one and it fit well with the essay but still needed some development. Maybe looking into a product that needs no sort of stereotyping at all and actually stereotyping it would show off some points within the writing. This could be done in many different ways with one product to create some final outcomes, all different from each other but to sell the same product.

What to get finished over/before Christmas - OUGD601

Below is a list of tasks to do when back after the Christmas break:

5 things to do:

• Research - Practical
• Design Boards
• Blog
• Finish Essay
• Have at least mockups done if not whole thing. - Practical

Practical, Ideas - OUGD601

These are some ideas based on feedback from peers and tutors for the practical section:

Create packaging based on different stereotypes. Create something that shouldn’t be stereotyped e.g. a razor advertised at women when it is a unisex object. Create the juxtaposition and make packaging that doesn’t suit the stereotype in many different ways. For Example… 

• Stationary aimed at different genders or ages.
• Mens Clothing aimed at women, younger audiences.
• Products that have no reason to be stereotyped packaged in many different stereotyped ways.

Look at gaming like FIFA now allowed to play female teams. Gaming advertised more at women now. 

Make things that aren’t needed

everyday objects that are needed e.g. toaster

look at aesthetics of 

run like a girl campaign

extra adverts why has it become this 

stereotype an advert and show it to people

Primary research

Show adverts to people and pause before the product comes on and ask if they know what the advertisement is about. Film it.

Critical Writing, What impact does it have? - OUGD601

This section will entail looking at overall what impact stereotyping products using; branding, packaging and advertising and whether or not it is a negative one. Examples can be used in this section in a big way to backup the final point with visuals. Using examples such as Coke, eBay and John Lewis will help explain different aspects of stereotyping. Showing how it can be done subtly to sell to target audiences, how it can be done in a positive way and how sometimes it can be seen as wrong to go in the opposite direction.

Critical Writing, What is a Stereotype? - OUGD601

This section will be set aside from the first three as it will help to show how they are all connected and how each of them use stereotyping to sell products. It will need to be explained what a stereotype is and how it is used within society. Whether it be based on what we are taught as a community or from upbringing. After this section it will need to be said how all subjects use stereotyping within using tools stated within the previous points. These tools can be; colour, typography, design, shapes and wording. Multiple texts and online sources will be used within this section such as; Stereotypes and Stereotyping book by Macrae, Stinger, Hewstone, Brand Watching by Giles Lury and What is Branding? by Mathew Healey.

Critical Writing, What is Advertising? - OUGD601

The final section to explain how brands can create an image that can help to target an audience will be this. Advertising uses a range of methods such as psychology to persuade their target audience. As stated in the 'What is Branding?' section colour, type and design will be spoken about here too. The wording of adverts can have a major effect of how someone views it just like with packaging. Society will be spoken about and what role it can play in the selling process. The book, Persuasion in Advertising by John O'Shaughnessy will be used in this section to justify points made. 

Critical Writing, What is Packaging? - OUGD601

This section will involve how packaging can affect the buying process and how brands can effectively implement it. Talking again about the design of the packaging and how it can target consumers, things like presentation is everything will need to be spoken about. This will show how brands can use packaging to make a product look more desirable so that they can sell more. Similar books from the first section will be used in this one and examples will be used to show how packaging can link to advertising. Showing that without packaging brands would not be able to create as effective image and would not gain free advertising. Some online examples/articles will most likely need to be given for this section to show some modern day examples and opinions.

Critical Writing, What is Branding? - OUGD601

This section of the essay will need to look into what is a brand and hat is branding?

Looking at the basics of branding like how do they draw consumers in and how do they keep them coming back (brand loyalty). Things like colour, type and design are factors that will be spoken about in all the topics and will tie them together in the end to show how a good brand and product is made. Texts like Brand Watching by Giles Lury and What is Branding by Mathew Healey will be essential to this section. Examples of companies that already do what is necessary to create a strong brand will be used too such as Apple, Nike or McDonalds, household names that receive consumer loyalty time after time.

Critical Writing, Examples - OUGD601

The examples used will have to reflect the piece of writing and back up points made.

Some examples to look into are listed below:

Bic Pen for her - received huge backlash after selling a pink pen 'for her'.

Coke, Diet and Zero - aimed at different genders and countries based on wording and design.

John Lewis, children's his and her range - new range made to be gender neutral receives negative and positive response due to controversial 'modern day' approach.

From initial research it seems that many ads or products that are deemed to be stereotyped widley are based on gender. This is not the main focus point of the essay but will be touched upon. More research is needed into stereotyping, packaging, advertising, branding and how they all link together.

Critical Writing, Authors and Books - OUGD601

Below are some of the initial books to look into

Persuasion in Advertising - O'Shaughnessy, J & O'Shaughnessy, N J

Advertising and Identity - Patricia Anne Odber de Baubeta, Jackie Cannon

Consumer Psychology -  Cathrine V. Jansson-Boyd