Dahyun Hwang
Master Project
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1
Rebecca Lake, ‹Grocery Shopping Statistics: 23 Fun Size Facts to Know.› CreditDonkey,
July 2, 2020.
2
John Berger, Ways of Seeing (London: British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books, 2008), p. 7.
3 Jiwon Yu, 《글자풍경:글자에 아로새긴 스물일곱 가지 세상》(Seoul: Uryu Munhwasa, 2019),
p. 62.
Abstract
Every type of design has diverse purposes and different connotations. Most people enjoy, and encounter snack
packaging designs on a daily basis, and there is a huge number of snacks available. Therefore, for companies to
increase their sales, attracting potential buyers is. Consequently, drawing attention to the product is often
one of the most crucial factors in designing ❝snack packaging❞.
❝Eye-catching designs❞ usually contain certain commonalities. This study looks for
these commonalities
in snack packaging design. To do this, snack packaging was collected, dismantled and analyzed. The individual
components, in
their ❝simplified forms❞, were examined on how the ❝visual elements❞ were
used. After this research and based on these
findings, imaginary future snacks were produced. This method can be used for any kind of product and promotion,
because it plays an ❝elementary role in design❞. When creating hypothetical future snacks, the
lettering for the
packaging was designed systematically with the ❝grid system❞ for an even better understanding.
Furthermore, unhealthy
snacks can cause health problems, so many of these can harm the public’s overall health. It is critical for
people
to consider the meaning of snacks in modern society and suggest the direction of snack’s messages and trends
that
should appear in the future, and hopefully lead to a healthier future.
Keywords
Snack packaging
Eye-catching design
Simplification
Graphic components
Grid system
Visual language
Design principles
Introduction
We often face dilemmas in the supermarket, where we go
almost once a week or more. Typically, people spend most
of their money on food, and nearly 25% of grocery shopping dollars are spent on processed food and sweets in the
USA.¹ That means we spend a considerable amount of
time
thinking about what to buy in the food sections, rather than in the other sections, such as self-care and
hygiene.
Especially in the snack corner, we ask ourselves, “Should I buy this one, that one, or both?” We go through the
process of considering and deciding whether or not a snack will be tasty just by looking at its packaging.
Therefore, in this space, which is full of vibrant designs, to increase the likelihood of sales it is
particularly
important that the design of the snack packaging stands out. That is why making eye-catching packaging designs
is
so important. However, it is not simply about being visually flashy.
Snacks are popular with people of all ages and backgrounds; therefore, it is vital to create
designs that suit
everybody’s tastes. In addition, it is important to create a graphic that attracts attention as they are
particularly important for those who do not read well, such as young children. John Berger said in his book,
Ways
of Seeing, “Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak.”²
Furthermore, snacks are cultural products. For example, when people travel, they often buy
snacks,
such as cookies
or candies, as souvenirs from the areas they have visited. They do this because snacks are not heavy; they are
pretty and often have the local cultural significance. It is common to give someone a light gift such as this,
and
it is also appropriate to explain to them about the culture you have experienced in the area you have traveled
to.
Because food culture is closely related to the general culture and the lives of the area. In addition, the
packaging is a valuable to collect, because an individual design has its own history and is continually changing
or varied. That’s why some think it is worthwhile to collect them and enjoy watching the variations over time.
It
gives pleasure in various ways, such as visual pleasure or from the good taste, and it also creates cherished
memories.
Thus, packaging and their designs incorporate moments, cultures, and memories. A design contains
a
statement
behind it. This is the case for various designs, such as car design, fashion design and signage design at train
stations. A Korean typographer Yu Jiwon, who studied the typographic phenomenon and cultures around the world,
states that “The letters that strongly reveal the characters of a specific area still breathe with that area.”³
Therefore, in this study, snack packaging that indicates regional cultures from the USA, Europe, Japan, and
South
Korea was collected and analyzed. These are all regions that the author has lived in for at least 2 months,
which
allows her to understand the popularity of particular snacks in the supermarkets these areas.
The purpose of this study is to explore, interpret and analyze existing snack packaging step by
step. This
involves extracting and collecting the basic graphic components. Then through the understanding of snack
packaging
design, we can find the commonalities they have and apply those to the newly created products. Doing this well
can
make the merchandise really stand out. Before analysis of visuals, first we have to look at the story of snacks,
for example, the history of snacks and the problems they had. Because snacks are so closely related to our
lives,
we need better snacks in two ways, with good tastes and for the sake of our better health. But if the better
snacks don’t have a better brand identity and visual messages, it can’t take any further steps. So, for the
reproduction of optimum snacks, we go through the analyzing process. In this study, these components are then
used
to the result of reproduction, which refers to the best form of snacks that we can imagine.