Saturday, 24 November 2012

GDES3003 Blog Task for Tues 27th and Thu 29th Nov.

Assessed Blog Task For Tues 27th and Thu 29th Nov.

 Please put your individual returned comments below this post in the 'Post a Comment' box. With [your name] first.

Q1 Materials lightness, suitability for purpose, minimalising of materials use and 'clever or smart' usages of materials were all considerations discussed at CAT with Jo. With your present designs for the Lea and Perrins brief mixed with the research that you've done to date and some of Jo's discussions  (remember there's an mp3 on this year's CAT trip post) suggest 3 ways in which you might minimise your materials use with your package. 

Q2 After our group tutorials in sessions last week we spoke with all who attended about their ideas to date and made suggestions on how they might be improved upon. What 3 considerations did you take away from those discussions and how might they affect the way that you've taken your designs further since last week's sessions?

 Q3 Again, on the back of tutorial discussions in sessions last week we'd agreed that most of you needed to add further references/research into products (food-related or otherwise) or precedents that successfully applied some or all of the ideas you were suggesting for the L+P brief. You'll need to have these anyway as part of a rounded set of supporting research. Name or cite 3 precedents or examples of how your ideas for L+P have already been applied commercially.

 N.B. This blog task is for each student in both the tues and thu groups irrespective of whether they are going to attend the planned L+P factory visit on Nov 29th PM (I'll finalise timings in an e-mail pre thu pm).

 Timings: 
I'll be checking on this blog on fri 30th Nov AM to see who has put up their comments in response to this task.
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Tuesday, 20 November 2012

Prototype Student Designs - Lea and Perrins Worcester Sauce

Some lovely prototype design solutions - these from student
Matthew Maynard
We're reaching 'prototypes' stage with the student's designs for the sustainable re-design of Lea and Perrins' Worcester Sauce. Each student has brought along either a set of printed working ideas or has done the same and wrapped around one of the iconic bottles for demonstration.

 The majority of solutions arrived with 'value added' ideas such as local food recipes that use the famous sauce, a facility to fit quick refills which cuts down on the need for glass bottles and ideas for various bio-plastics that may potentially replace the glass bottles entirely.

 The students are due to take a tour of the Lea and Perrins factory at the end of November 2012 so that they can see the sauce being bottled.
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Thursday, 15 November 2012

Eco Print and Paper Visting Speakers for Worcester Graphic Design Students


Mary Warren from Robert Horne Paper talks to Green Design Students
at the University of Worcester.

Big thanks to Mark Pickford from Seacourt's Eco Printers in Oxford and Mary Warren from Robert Horne's sustainable board/paper suppliers in Northampton for coming over to talk to my yr 3 Green Design guys.. 

Mark talked about Seacourt's environmental credentials and the sorts of work they undertake as well as the many awards gathered en route (including 2x Queen's Awards!). Mary talked in some depth about the various papers and boards available now to designers when thinking about either eco print or packaging. She also talked about the need to think about reducing materials use where possible but while still conveying the same message. Finally Mary talked about the rise of the 'ethical consumer' - educated and with disposable incomes these people are part of the driving force behind many large companies 'greening' their business practices.

Great to hear them both talk about their industry and big thanks again to them both for travelling over to see us. Our third year Green Design students are working on an eco packaging brief this year to design prototype sustainable re designs of the iconic Worcester Sauce bottle and associated graphics.

 Mary's video


GDES3003-RobertHorne- from Andy Stevenson Work on Vimeo.
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Questions For Seacourts or Robert Horne

Both Mark from Seacourt's Eco Printers and Mary from Robert Horne kindly offered to answer your further questions in relation to either print techniques or paper/board considerations tied-in to your brief for L+P.

 Please post further questions as 'comments' on this post with [Your Name] and [whether tues or thu session people].
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Tuesday, 30 October 2012

Initial Student Questions for Lea & Perrins

As we've had chance to digest the requirements and constraints/opportunities of the Lea and Perrins sustainable re-design brief, it's wholly appropriate that specific questions start to emerge. We'll use this area to pass these back to Shane at Heinz initially and either Shane or colleagues will get back as a 'comment' below.

 Questions to date:


Elisa

1. Does any particular material have to be avoided in the designs? 
No we are happy to look at  range of materials during the design stage of this project, although it should be noted that we consider the current glass bottle an iconic design.

2. Do you require design for a regular single bottle or would you like to receive suggestions for Special Edition bottles, as well? 
Again, at this design stage we are happy to look at either a design for the current single bottle or a limited edition piece.

3. Would you be able to provide us with appropriate recipes using Worcestershire sauce, as well as with corporate typefaces or imagery, which you would like to keep in the designs? 
A range of recipes can be found at www.leaandperrins.com (US site) and http://www.heinz.co.uk/Sauce-Partners/lea--perrins (UK Site) As for typeface and imagery, please see attached the Lea & Perrins style guide.

4. Would you like anything in particular to be highlighted on the label (e.g. "Lea & Perrins" or "Worcestershire sauce")? 
We would consider both Lea & Perrins and Worcestershire sauce as key messages to include on any label design

Rossouw

1. Firstly, where they source their ingredients? for instance do they use fair trade products? . Ingredients are sourced from many countries across the world, all via suppliers approved to Heinz stringent standards on quality, ethics and environmental awareness.

2. I also wanted to ask whether there was any significant waste products in the production process of the sauce or the packaging? An example of what I mean would be like coffee granules when making coffee. 
We endeavour to ensure waste is kept to an absolute minimum so optimise all of our processes and ways of working to achieve this.

Jess C

1. Firstly, I was wondering why the company had chosen to specifically attract 20-35 year old age group? Especially as 55% of sales come from households with no children. Jess, we would like to engage with this younger age group as at present we are seeing consumers of this age not using/ stop using Worcester sauce. To avoid having a lost generation of consumers (hence my Mum used to use Worcester Sauce but I don’t) we need to engage with them and make Lea & Perrins part of their everyday cooking.

2. I was also wondering how becoming part of the Heinz Group & Co has affected the company? Has it changed their image at all? 
The heritage, iconic design and traditional recipe have been safely preserved and the brand has benefitted from investment in marketing and support.

Adam

1. Are there specific colour tones that have to be adhered to (like how cadbury and coca cola always use the same exact colour for their packaging)? 
This can come from the style guide attached

2. Can anything be added to the bottles as long as the bottle shape is kept the same? 
At this design stage we are happy to review any ideas.

3. Is the focus on recycling the bottles, or re-using them? 
At the design stage we are open to either idea

4. Do we have to design the supporting packaging for transportation, and point of sale displays? No. Although it would be good to see consideration paid to how the bottles would be stored on shelf to have maximum visibility.

Spencer

Are there any elements that have to be on the bottle packaging design? Names, ingredients, logos 
Yes. We have to have the product name (Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce) Declared Weight, Ingredients, nutritional table, Allergy information and barcode.  We also strongly put The Original and Genuine and the Royal crest onto the label design.

Are any of the ingredients sourced through fair trade? 
Ingredients are sourced from many countries across the world, all via suppliers approved to Heinz stringent standards on quality, ethics and environmental awareness.

If I chose against using glass would the coca cola company's PlantBottle technology and the use of PET be available? As what I understand it is only being used in USA and Canada. 
At this design stage we would be open to suggestions on alternate materials.

4- Could the size of the bottle be reduced in any way? In terms of the height, I am not intending to alter the shape At this design stage we would be happy to view numerous design routes.

Nikolay

Do you want Lea & Perrins, Heinz Group, or Worcester Sause label to be the main accent of the design? Would suggest we go with Lea & Perrins then Worcester Sauce (as per current label) We do not and would not promote Heinz group on the front of the label.

2.Do you think it's a good idea to have supporting materials like recipe's, dosage use etc on the back of the design as a supportive piece? As far as I'm informed you already have. So my question is would you like to keep this 
As our objective is to inspire and engage with a younger audience, educating them on using Lea and Perrins in their everyday dishes, I would suggest this is a good idea. Although you point out we currently do this on the bottle, you may have new suggestions which we are open to. 
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Friday, 26 October 2012

CAT Visit 2012

On thu 25th Oct 2012 we went on our annual visit to CAT in Machynlleth in Mid Wales. It was without doubt, the largest cohort we've ever taken and we were joined by UW's Sustainability manager Katy Boom, her deputy Matt Smith, Learning and Teaching's John Peters and staff and students from an environment-related MA Course in Hereford.

We met with lecturer Jo Gwillim for our annual updated talk from him on the nature of sustainability across a range of genres. Jo's talk (as ever) was excellent and both informative and humorous. He also talked us through the many properties of materials (using building materials as examples). The notion that some materials take a lot of CO2 to generate but are easy to recycle and re-use, was a new one to many in the group and it left us all with something additional to think about in terms of materials use and considerations.

 Great day out as ever - big thanks to all at CAT (including Clare Beesley and Ann Macgarry as well as Jo) for helping to set the visit up.

 Some pictures for this year's visit:

Materials lecture looking at the properties of those on display.

More examination of materials inc hemp and lime render etc.

Some of the 2012 Green Design Group wait for the
water gondola.

Some of the group going up to the CAT site in the quarry
on CAT's water gondola.

Ace sustainability tutor Jo Gwillim talks though the nature
of materials and CO2 usage.

One of CAT's polytunnels - so full of goodies that they were
giving away the surplus on tables outside!

Two group members test one of the interactive exhibits on site.

The view from the teaching room in the WISE Centre out
across the CAT site with the hills in the background.

Water gondolas from above.

Close-up of the distant Welsh Mountains.

Surplus goodies from the polytunnels.

Excellent Earth over on site - can I have one please?


View of one of the quiet courtyards at CAT - built
on the remains of an old slate quarry.
CAT Lecture Commentary .mp3 [here] 105Mb

Session Task
Tues 30th and Thu 1st: Your Thoughts & Feedback

N.B. Please add your replies as a 'comment' to this blog post. Please use any browser but not Safari to do so as it's a bit funny with blogs.

Before your answers in your comment, please write:

A. Your name.
B. Which session you're in (i.e. tues or thu).

Reflective questions to answer:

1. Had you heard of CAT before you came on the module? If 'yes' then please give an idea where you'd heard about them.

2. Please give your thoughts on the 3x most notable points raised in the sustainability lecture on site. For example it could be methods of reducing CO2 discussed, the varying views of the 'future' given the issues of oil and climate change or maybe the idea of 'real worth' with materials and artifacts (i.e. remember Jo explaining that one torch would appear to be the most sustainable but in practise another was simpler and more effective).

3. Please give your thoughts on the 3x most notable things picked-up while at CAT (i.e. it could be one of the specific exhibits seen, their self sufficiency with solar etc and/or maybe the clever use of materials with specific buildings to help reduce CO2 etc).

4. Now you've had time to reflect, what 3x things gained from the CAT visit might you bring forward into your ideas and developments for the sustainable packaging brief?


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Friday, 12 October 2012

Gdes3003 - 2012 Cohort

As mentioned in sessions, we've started broad and covered some of the key areas affecting both large organisations (and thus us and the promo companies that work for them). We've already covered both climate change and the challenges with the oil economy and some have also attended Dr Kat Eames' useful lunchtime lecture on the science of Climate Change too. If you check-out the Transition Network too at this stage you might find how people and communities are starting to do something about the two issues mentioned above also..

The founder of the Transition Network (Rob Hoskins) did a good TED video talk in 2009 that helps summarise some of the issues involved:



We've continued our module by looking at what traditional packaging has been like in the past, how past communities knew instinctively to work with nature and the materials at hand. In particular Traditional Japanese packaging is a good example of this - with both the more agricultural and the artisan aspects to it.

Here's a couple of examples from your eventual quick workshop designs:
Team Billy


Team Rossouw







Here's a selection of your learning journal blogs for this year (below). I'll be monitoring them all from time to time and commenting where appropriate on them too as you add additional research and devts each week.

Tuesday
Keely


Thursday
Tom


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