Food is all around us, which naturally means design is too because it usually has to go in something. Packaging plays a huge role in what we as consumers decide to buy. Some major elements that draw us in are typography, color and logos/icons. All these influences affect you, the consumer, subconsciously and according to Business Insider, it only takes 7 seconds to make a judgement based on this quick information provided by packaging.

Brands that use icons/logos are on the right path and know exactly what they are doing. When you see a logo, it creates an emotional connection in your mind and in turn starts to solidify a relationship between the brand and yourself. With that said, sharing images of products with other people makes it more likely that they will also chose that brand when they are in the same buying situation.

The visual aesthetic qualities are the main points I want to share with you. As mentioned before, color and typography play a huge role in catching the consumers attention and then causing them to make the final purchase decision.

Color theory is a concept of using color to evoke certain emotions and to cause a specific emotional response to something. For instance, red can be seen as an exciting color. Orange is viewed as friendly and welcoming. Green, a very common color used in packaging, promotes the idea of fresh ingredients and Eco-friendly products. You wouldn’t want to buy a juice drink that has a muddy dark label on it, would you? Instead, you’re going to reach for the one with the bright colors possibly including shades of green (back to that fresh ingredient concept).

Typography, which is the style and appearance of printed matter (fonts and text), helps support the emotional pull of color theory which leads to the ultimate purchase decision. Typography can help bring in a specific style to a product which can help target a specific group of consumers. For instance, beer companies use darker colors to appeal to the beer drinkers, who, according to Chron.com, are mostly men between the ages of 18 to 49. Beer companies want a solid masculine package for their product. Men aren’t going to pick a case of beer that is covered in light pink hearts with text that looks like balloon letters. They will be drawn to the blue labels with the solid, thick text. It strengthens their “manly” side. The strengthening of their masculinity ism in turn, the relationship that is formed between the man buying the beer and the beer company themselves. In contrast, wine companies go for a more elegant font with  more sophisticated color choices to appeal to the different target audience of wine drinkers.

Below are a few examples of some interesting packaging. MarketingProfs.com does a great job of further explaining the effects of packaging. There’s an awesome info-graphic that walks you through all the elements!

Design is involved in music in music in many ways but most commonly in CD cover art, gig/tour posters, album leafs and band logos. We’re going to take a look at some of the most popular bands and their logos and see how design played a role in their image!

The Doors is one of the most well known bands from the late 60’s. You can feel the hippy counter-culture vibe in the trippy font used in “the”. “Doors” is kept simple and geometric to keep it from becoming too cliche with the hippy style. It is an iconic band that had an equally icon band logo!

Nirvana’s band logo has been used on t-shirts for over two decades! It is easily recognizable (as all logos should be!) and does an amazing job of showing the type of music the band plays. It gives a rock/alternative rock feel with the blocky but still stylized text and then the grunge with the doodle-like smiley face. After a little research, I learned that the smiley face was inspired by a strip club in Seattle. Something that seemed so simple and decorative can have a lot more meaning than you think. This is often the case in logos, but not always picked up on right away. To me, this is what makes design so fascinating; you can have the straight forward message then with further observation, you see hidden messages and meanings. I’ll save all this for a future post because honestly, I could go on and on!

Alright, let’s switch gears and focus on a different genre. Outkast’s logo is spot on with their design! It carries an energy which reflects they’re upbeat and energetic songs. It also has a hip-hop feel due to the graffiti-like font that’s used. It’s a great way of hinting towards that style without literally copying it. Hinting to a specific style is a successful way of keeping a design full of character while still keeping it polished.

There ya have it! As I mentioned before, design is incorporated into the music industry in many other ways, these are just a few examples. Artist of the Week is coming up so check back soon and see who’s going to be featured this week!