CMNS 325 Final Design

CMNS 325 Final Design

CMNS 325 Final Design:

Re-usable Pantry Labels

Andrew Stott

301078709

April 6, 2011

Professors Jan Marontate and David Murphy

TA Erin Ashenhurst

Concept

Motivated by an interest in minimizing waste in the home, this is a design of printed stickers/labels that are to be used in conjunction with reused jars and containers to create one-of-a-kind and eco-conscious storage for spices, baking items, nuts & seeds, etc.

Motivation

Although the last decade has seen an increase in recycling rates, Canadians generate approximately 31 million tonnes of waste each year and only about 30% of that material is recycled[1]. There is still much more that needs to be done, and evidence of this can be seen in the aggressive ‘Zero Waste’ program launched by Metro Vancouver last month on March 9th, 2011. Recycling rates are currently at 55% and the aim of this program is to raise that to 70% by 2015[2].

Given this ongoing effort by both individuals and government, this design has the potential to be a marketable product or part of a government initiative to raise awareness of, and reduce waste. The sticker sheets include labels for all common items, as well as labels that can be customized to fit the needs of the consumer.

Target Audience

The target audience is the eco-conscious young adults of the west coast of B.C. These individuals are already making choices that have an impact on the environmental challenges of the day and are likely to have interest in furthering their efforts. To access this demographic, the labels will be available at farmer’s markets, health food stores, eco-conscious clothing stores and organic produce stores such as Whole Foods.

Benefits and Demographic Considerations

This is an eco-conscious demographic, and the appeal is that these labels not only allow them to find a use for any jars they already have, but also motivates them to think more about packaging when making further consumption choices. This eco-conscious appeal extends further when it is considered that through this system, a move towards purchasing mainly bulk items is made. This not only minimizes the use of further packaging through the purchase of packaged goods, but also saves the consumer money.

Ben Litjen, a bulk foods specialist at Whole Foods, notes that items such as steel-cut oats cost 6 cents per ounce when purchased bulk rather than 10 cents per ounce when packaged. Further, Litjen notes that quality is increased as the turnover of bulk items at busy stores such as Whole Foods means items are fresher in bulk than packaged goods[3].

Another element of this design is that the labels are printed on recycled paper. Sticker production is available using 30% post-consumer waste and 70% pre-consumer waste. Vegetable-based inks are used and the stickers are reusable.

Design Process: Inspiration

Inspiration for the aesthetics that would appeal to this demographic was found in existing company logos, such as Whole Foods, Gorilla Foods and Organic Lives. Clues were also found in the illustrative, DYI style of many artists dealing in other products that appeal to this demographic such as knitted items and the drawings shown on the following page.

Design Process: Colour Selection

There were two main factors considered in the choice of colour. First, the overall aesthetic was to be considered. To be in line with both the purposes of the project and its eco-conscious target demographic, the project had to incorporate a natural and organic feel. For this reason, it was important to choose analogous earth tones from the colour spectrum.

Second, it was important that the colours were differentiable in order to enable pattern recognition. Pattern recognition is important because it makes it possible for the user to quickly differentiate between categories.

A balance was achieved between these two conflicting needs of analogy and differentiability by choosing the colours in the colour wheel to the right. As seen here, these colours lean toward the warmer earth tones, but still have enough diversity to be differentiable. Each of these six colours (including gray) was used for a corresponding category, shown on the following page.

Design Process: Recognition and Binding

As noted in the pattern recognition lecture, limiting the feature components to 3 allows for better recognition of key elements. For this reason the feature components are limited to an icon, one colour, and the text for each. These elements were also chosen with consideration given to the pattern recognition element of binding. Each ingredient is recognized as being part of a category not only by colour binding, but also iconic binding.

The chosen icons were drawn in illustrator and were designed for the purpose of allowing a logical connection with the category without need for a legend. The legend to the right is intended for the use of this report and will not

be necessary for the user.

Final Design

The final design incorporates all of these considerations. The labels will come on sheets, which allow the user to re-apply the re-usable stickers for future use, and easily locate specific labels.These design choices combine to create an appealing product that combines aesthetic appeal with eco-conscious, as well as cost-saving, benefits. As an added incentive, partial proceeds of the stickers will be donated to local recycling initiatives. Images of the final product are included on the following page.

References

[1] “Recycling Fact Sheets” from The Recycling Council of British Columbia. Retrieved from

[2] “Metro Vancouver Turns to Social Media to Boost Region’s Recycling Rate” in The

Vancouver Sun. March 9, 2011. Retreived from

vancouver-turns-social-media-boost-regions-recycling-20110309-160000-968.html

[3] “Bulk-Bin Basics” in Delicious Living. Retreived from

bin-basics