Sep 3, 2020
2 min read
51261 Project 1 : Identifying Design
About Yuran Ding
- Hi! I’m Yuran Ding, a junior at CMU majoring in cognitive science, human-computer interaction and minoring in design.
- When taking cognitive science and human-computer interaction courses, I find design to be very closely related to them. Want to add on to my interdisciplinary skillset. And design is fun, I like creating things that make people happy / exciting / comfortable!
- Fun Fact: I’m allergic to cats ;( , but they are my favorite animals.
Ineffective Communication
- These two bottles of chili sauces came into my mind when I was trying to find an example of bad communication design. They are completely different flavors, yet I have made the mistake of buying the wrong flavor multiple times — dang! The packagings for these two products are misleading. Although there is a great brand association for the two products, the differences between the two products are not clear enough. The important information that distinguishes two different flavors is communicated in a not so user-friendly way. The names of the two products (‘SPICY CHILI CRISP’ and ‘FRIED CHILI IN OIL’) are written below the center and are in black (when the background is red), which don’t stand out at first sight. Moreover, the names are positioned right below the attention-grabbing logo, which makes it even easier to be ignored. Overall, the typography is poorly designed, very incoherent and crowded, which makes the information on the packaging not so readable to viewers.
Effective Communication
- An example of effective communication would be the Heinz tomato ketchup. Color schemes and typography are very coherent for their ketchup products, no matter of the sizes, which contribute to memorable brand images. High contrast color scheme (red and green are complementary colors) makes the product stand out to consumers on the shelves. Simple but effective visuals of the tomato inform consumers of its content and appeal to their taste. The use of bold faces and larger sizes add weight to important information.
