Critical Reflection for Design Project A / Task 9

The “Open Can” campaign is the design solution to the RSA brief “Sustainable Metals, ” which asks students to design a coherent, multi-part campaign that communicates to packaging decision makers, in a clear and simple way, the benefits of metal as a sustainable food packaging material, delivering healthy, nutritious food.

I was interested in this particular brief, because it presented a wealth of quite interesting facts about metal food packaging. These facts painted a picture, which was very much the opposite of the traditional image of the humble food can as non-eco friendly packaging, containing food full of additives and preservatives. The information in the brief was not some new research; the facts and figures have been known for years and years, yet the general public, myself included, certainly did not seem to be aware of them. So I thought that increasing awareness of the benefits of metal packaging in a new, more engaging way, would be an exciting challenge.

My research included both primary and secondary sources. I interviewed Nikolay Kiryakov, executive director of a firm in the food-processing industry and Petra Mo, Manager of Steel Promotion at the World Steel Association. They provided some really useful insights into different aspects of the industry. I combined their insight with my extensive secondary research, which mostly consisted of examining various online resources.

My research findings led me to reinterpret the brief and redefine the target audience – my conclusion was that the consumer was the ultimate “packaging decision maker.” By making an informed purchase decision, which might partially be based on an item’s packaging, the consumer would generate demand, to which retailers and producers would respond. Busy, young, environmentally conscious people were the primary target audience.

As the aim of the campaign was to communicate in an engaging way, I decided fairly quickly that this should be achieved by using environmental design – large models of metal food cans – as a more unusual primary communication channel. The campaign name – “Open Can,” apart from being a literal description of the main communication channel, also referred to the way the food can was now open to reveal its full potential to an unaware public. At first I thought about displaying the campaign information and key messages on a label, wrapped around the can models. After further consideration, though, I decided that making the viewer enter the can and be surrounded by it would create a more compelling environment for presenting the information. The can models themselves would be placed at public spaces of high visibility: popular parks, squares, etc. This would allow for significant exposure, especially in cities like London. The can models would be supported by take-away cards, a campaign website and via social networks.

My main idea was that presenting the campaign information in a more memorable environment – inside large, metallic can models – would certainly have more impact than if I only used traditional print and web channels.

Building full-scale mock-ups of the cans would have been impractical for testing purposes. So I decided to obtain whatever feedback I could from fellow students, friends and relatives that fall into the target audience. The feedback was positive, with most people indicating that they were more likely to be impressed and influenced if the information was presented to them via the can models.

Based on the feedback and comparison to existing channels, which presented the same key facts about metal packaging, I feel that the “Open Can” campaign has the potential to be a solid, viable solution for the RSA brief. After additional tutorials and feedback, some possibilities to refine the presentation of the campaign idea were identified. The main suggestion was to expand the mock-up artwork a bit further, so it creates a stronger feeling of substance – for example, by showing the website design in greater detail, etc. Another suggestion was to consider an interactive, digital display for the information inside the can models. I had actually considered it and I did think that it would be a stronger solution, but at the end I did not explicitly state the nature of the display on the submitted A3 boards – which, in hindsight, I probably should have done.

With regard to the design development throughout the semester, I think that the whole process was well-scheduled to allow enough time for each stage to be completed. Maybe I should have started putting together the final artwork a bit ahead of the schedule in order to have some additional time for tweaks.

On the whole, I feel that the main difference between this project and a number of my previous projects is the emphasis that was placed on the extensive initial research, and especially on the inclusion of more primary research. In-depth research does help to thoroughly understand a problem and as a result, come up with a better solution. I will certainly maintain this more thorough approach to work in my future projects.