The starting point for the What is good, the foundation for this brief started after reading through Good: An introduction to ethics in Graphic Design published by AVA. book. This book discusses ethical issues that challenge us as Graphic Designers and gives consideration to being a good or bad designer.
I used this to think about an issue that would be ethical to explore and as such started with Buying British is good. After researching this idea for a short time I realised it is quite hard to buy British these days so started looking at what we can source locally. This eventually led me to apples. I was quite shocked that we only eat 1 in 5 British grown apples and started thinking about perhaps providing some kind of education/info graphic.
The brand and identity direction came after I focussed on the Coop farm Sweetie apple. It was driven by the research about successful commercial apples which all have strong bands and promotion behind them. I believe the brand reflects 'superiority' but also with the blossom logo has connotations of nature.
The packaging will elevate the brand as it stands above the norm, particularly the paper bag which was said to look like a Donut bag making the apples more enticing. Apples are all about taste and appearance so the initial introduction to the market had to be a free apple to a large audience. The London half marathon is perfect both location, audience and timing wise.
On reflection, what may have seemed to some as quite ordinary has actually been a really interesting area to explore. One debate that I am still having with myself is whether it is better to buy and promote English heritage apples or English grown modern hybrids which are popular and sell. As such I am wondering how ethical my branding and promotion of a'modern' apple would be considered in some circles. I have exchanged a few interesting emails with the Founder and Editor of Orange Pippin. The website on the whole is all about our apple heritage however even he thought this was an interesting question. He was keen for me to stress the apple is 'English grown'.
Although I have not started with a cool, off the wall concept which could have made for an interesting journey, I think the apple has suited the brief well in terms of concept development for logo, brand and packaging and promotion. I have also had responses from the Coop Branding Manager and I intend to send a copy of the Presentation Boards for her feedback.
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