Post Legges and Wye Valley Visit & Q+A

'Wye Valley Brewery is a family-run business dedicated to brewing the best cask-conditioned beer possible and championing pubs as important parts of local communities. We use only the finest quality raw materials - sourced locally wherever possible - and are proud to be recognised as the leading cask ale brewery in the county.

Founded in 1985 by ex-Guinness brewer Peter Amor, we began brewing in Canon Pyon, Hertfordshire, but moved shortly afterwards to the old stable block of The Barrels, an historic 18th century coaching inn, in Hereford.

By April 2002 the brewery had outgrown its Hereford home and relocated to its present site in Stoke Lacy. Also in 2002, after completing his brewing training at Young's Brewery in Wandworth, Peter's son Vernon took over as our managing director.' - Wye Valley Brewery.

Ale's sold by Wye Valley Brewery

Condiments sold by Legges of Bromyard

Here are some important points raised from the clients during the Q&A which I will definitely have to take into consideration.

Notes from the Q+A

• The Package must contain three products. This could be two ale’s and a condiment or two condiments and one ale. Preferably best to package two ale’s as the ales are the main selling point and focus of the package.

•  Can mix the ales. Both ales can be different; don’t have to be the same ale in the package. If that adds more flexibility to the package and the design. 

•  Packaging must bear both logos. Wye Valley Brewery and Legges of Bromyard.

• The audience/market who will be purchasing the ales will be primarily Women for their husbands, as a gift for a brother, uncle etc.  However it will be mainly male consumers so this has to be taken into account but don’t over feminise the packaging/design.

•  Gill Sans is the preferred font to be used on the packaging.

•   Food and ales is becoming big. Look into the combination, what condiment and ale complement each other and would work well. This area has huge potential.

•  Tradition could play a huge part in the design/package.  Wye Valley and Legges pride themselves on using local and raw ingredients; perhaps combat this with a rustic skew for example.

•  They want a mature design but not too old fashioned.

•  No specific colour scheme, despite Wye Valley primarily using browns and creams for their packaging.  Open to change.

•  Strike a balance with the design/packaging. Advertising products from two different businesses don’t alienate one; strike a balance in the design.

• Both businesses focus on quality and craft with their products, this has to be conveyed in the packaging.   

• Competitors are Badgers and Fullers. Look into their packaging to gain a feel of the market and their competitors.

•  Open to using QR codes.

•   All current packaging is made from cardboard and is hand assembled. Open minded to using different materials however take into consideration it must be practical for storage and transport.

•       The green element of the packaging is very important and is a message the clients want to be portrayed to the customers and something they believe could be used as a selling point.

•      Consider using vegetable inks, the sustainability and re-usability of the packaging.

Task 3 - Alternate Shoebox

For my alternate shoebox design my first ideas was I really wanted to stray away from a ‘box’. I wanted to do something a little different. Primarily I was looking into kids shoes and a way you could transform the ‘box’ to make some sort of toy. I then began to look and think about babies shoes, especially their first pair. The first pair of shoes are generally seen as very sentimental and usually most parents actually keep them , so I began looking at my design with this in mind. I came up with the idea for a babies first pair of shoes to be housed inside a teddy bear, which would act as the ‘shoebox’. That way the baby would be able to keep the bear as a toy and when the baby grows up the parents will be able to store and keep the shoes inside the bear for the memory/sentimental value. As I mentioned most parents actually keep their child’s first toys/shoes so this was definitely my thinking with this idea.  It would also eliminate the clutter of a box/packaging having something you can keep and the baby can use as a toy. Did a bit of research around it and actually couldn’t find something similar on the market. 

The idea actually came from The Adidas Star Wars trainers where they are housed in like a toy box. Like you would find in a toy store. So taking on board how I wanted to design something parent's and the child could keep I came up with the idea of using a toy as my 'box'

Portable and definitely a second use.

On the front of the bear will be buttons ( I decided against a zip for safety reasons) that will open up and that is where the shoes will be stored. 

Could even possibly have different bears for different shoes or a girl/boy bear.

Fitting in with the green aspect of the module the bear would obviously be designed with this in mind. The bear would be organically crafted. Using no glue, stuffed and crafted fully out of  wool, would be dyed with vegetable inks. Obviously as well you would have no packaging/rubbish to dispose of.

Task Two - Sustainable Packaging

Eliminates millions of tons of waste

The packaging reduces the shipping and material costs

reduced cardboard use by 65%

Saves 8500 tons of paper only can benefit forests and the environment.

20 million mega joules of electricity.

1 million liters of water.

reduces carbon dioxide by 10,000 tons.


This product/video really I think covers pretty a majority of the 14 points in the eco design manifesto.

Such as

1. Design to satisfy real needs as opposed to transient, fashionable or market-driven needs.
2. Design to minimise the ecological footprint of the product/material/service product, i.e. reduce resource consumption, including energy and water.
4. Design to enable the separation of components of the product/material or service product at the end of life in order to encourage recycling or reuse of materials and/or components.
6. Design to engender maximum benefits to the intended audience and to educate the client and the user and thereby create a more equable future.
8. Design to exclude innovation lethargy by re-examining original assumptions behind existing concepts and products/materials/service products.
9. Design to dematerialise products into services wherever feasible.
10. Design to maximise a product/material/service product's benefits to communities.
12. Design to foster debate and challenge the status quo surrounding existing products/materials/ service products.
14. Design to create more sustainable products/materials/service products for a more sustainable future.

Task One- Two Elements from the Inconvenient Truth

A shocking element of the video for me was the alarming rate and frequency of natural disasters that are taking place. Obviously it was an issue that I was already aware of but seeing the video, it really was a shocking eye opener that they are only going to occur more frequently and on a larger, devastating scale. It basically got me thinking and posing the question is it too late to make a change or as a society make an impact in the fight against Global Warming, is it basically an inevitability that it will continue to rise and rise till, who knows. So it got me curious to what WE could actually do to prevent or help in the fight against Global Warming. One of the things we really need to do is educate ourselves around the subject. Many know there is an issue regarding Global Warming but do most people actually know the causes and consequences some of their everyday activities/actions have? It’s a subject myself I’m not too familiar with but after the video and doing a little bit of research it was such an eye opener. Another thing we can do is simple. Recycle. Recycling and using recycled products , materials can have a huge impact. 75% of our society recycle already. Use public transport, walk or ride a bike. Again simple solutions but can have a massive effect. These are just three of the most obvious solutions to be fair.

Here is a simple list of 12 tips each one of us can do just to help.

http://www.climatecrisis.net/take_action/12_tips.php

There is no reason why each person couldn’t help and do their own little bit in trying to make a difference however I really feel for we as a society to really make a change, we first have to have a change in attitude. A general consensus I’ve found with a lot of people is an attitude of, what does it matter, it probably won’t effect me or what difference can I make by just recycling a bag. With this sort of attitude, I’m afraid that we’ll never really succeed as a society in the fight against Global Warming. It’s definitely possible but we as a society need to change our attitude in the fight against Global Warming.

Another part of the video that really shocked me was the rate in which some of the world’s most natural and beautiful landmarks are slowly deteriorating due to Global Warming. Then it showed the Polar Bear’s. Watching the clip and hearing of the Polar Bear’s drowning as they swim to find ice was shocking and quite upsetting to hear about. It got me curious to look into the subject a little more and how serious the situation has become for Polar Bear’s and what other animals out there are in danger.

The situation for the Polar Bear’s is that due to the ice melting, the ice platforms are moving further apart and melting away. So many Polar Bears will swim and swim in a desperate search for ice and food only to drown. A survey predicted that in less than 40 years 2/3 of the Polar Bear population will have died off. The rate in which the Polar Bear’s are dying they are predicted to become extinct in our lifetime. Penguins are also under threat due to the melting ice cap in the Artic. Many animals in Africa are dying due to the intense heat waves the Continent experiences, leading to a huge drought. This isn’t just effecting animals in Africa, Many African’s die each year through lack of water and heatstroke during the intense heat waves.