What do I want to communicate?

I want to communicate to the public and educate them on the difference between locally grown goods compared to goods imported from abroad. I want to show how the people themselves can no longer feel helpless in the fast ever-growing global market, but by making small choices in what they buy could be beneficial not only to themselves but to their local community too. 

How will I communicate this?

I will create a brand which will be featured in stores across the country. It will be an independent brand that will only sell goods from British or local farmers, these foods will be fresh and organic and will be priced at a standard price to ensure its cheaper than its surrounding competition. I want to produce the packaging for different types of goods such as meat, fish, bread, vegetables, dairy and fruit. The branding should be clean and minimal to reflect how the goods themselves have not been tampered with but present themselves as they are.

Where will this be communicated?

This will be communicated in local shops Tesco, Sainsbury's and the Co Operative. I chose these three supermarkets because they are already established and have many stores throughout the UK. My research has revealed these companies are currently suffering from the impact of the emerging popularity of Aldi and Lidl therefore need something new with potential to build up the trust and loyalty from the public again. It could influence the public to shop at these stores if they believe they are making a small impact on local farms and communities.

I started off by trying to draw various animals in Illustrator keeping that minimalistic theme. At first I found it difficult and thought the animals had too much detail, I then redrew the animals is a much more cleaner and simpler way which i thought had more of an impact. I didn't want the animals looking too realistic as some members of the public may find it distracting and off putting. Keeping the design minimal and simple makes them more appealing and informal.

The typeface I chose was called Arvo. I found this was more suitable to what I was trying to achieve as it resembles the typeface you would find on a typewriter giving it that more down to earth feel. It has the formality of a serif font however the brackets on the typeface make it more playful and trusting. No fancy embellishments or different thicknesses within a letter, it presents itself clear and to the point which is what I am trying to communicate within the products I will be branding. 

An idea I had was to use brackets within the branding as it could represent that there is no hidden ingredients, chemicals etc but only what is presented on the packaging. However I decided to scrap this idea after doing some research on existing branding products and finding it had been done before.

After finalising my drawings of the animals I then positioned them with type inside a box. I thought the very aesthetic of the design worked well as it was simple yet effective. I chose to name is 'British Beef' etc to keep the message clear and easily understandable to any age. The box around the design brings the concept together and presents it how it is, it focuses your attention to the content of the boxes which is the most important part.

I then added colour to the designs which I thought suited the product it was selling. Fish usually being blue as its from the sea or rivers, the chicken as the main colour that represents chicken is usually a mixture of orange and yellow. Finally the beef is pretty obvious because the colour of the meat is red and thats what people associate the meat with. I tried to keep it simple and use the products connotations to my advantage.

I then began by trying to illustrate the other products that will be featured in my brand. Again I tried to keep a consistent theme of using the products connotations to help me decide what colour would be best. The illustrations are simple and effective however I think with more time they could have been improved to replicate the products themselves in a stronger way. As I was pushed for time to get the designs done I feel the milk and fruit illustrations could be improved. The milk I stuck to using a glass of milk which I thought would be a safer route to take than illustration udders of some sort which may be off putting to the public. The fruit I think could have been better represented than just a plain apple but overall I am pleased with the way the illustrations turned out. The meat and fish illustrations I focused on more because they were the main products I wanted to promote to the public as they are usually more expensive.

I decided that the tagline British Beef was too boring and not exciting enough. I jotted down a few ideas which is where I decided for the line "ITS ONLY BEEF". I think its communicates a less serious message but is informative at the same time. No chemicals, no hormones, no hassle, just beef.

I quickly mocked up some posters I had created in response to the my product branding. I tried to keep a consistent theme throughout the posters so people can recognise the branding and be more aware of the products presence in shops. The one thing which I have accidentally left off on my designs is where to find the products, this s vital information for the posters to do what their supposed to do so I am going to make some alterations to make it clear to the public on where to find these products.