Project 1: Communication Design Examples
Effective Communication Design
The Seventh Generation Disinfecting Wipes container is an example of effective communication design because it conveys the most important facts about the product in a manner that can be read at a glance on the supermarket shelf. The green color used predominantly in the packaging is similar to other brands of disinfecting wipes which allows potential buyers to recognize the product type easily. The use of green also indicates the eco-friendly nature of the product. The overall color scheme is simple with only four colors. The orange band helps the name of the product stand out. The brand name is secondarily highlighted by being in larger font above the orange band which is effective because the second most important thing for the potential buyer to see after the name of the product is the brand name. Other important information, like the number of wipes in the container, is highlighted by setting it apart in a white box and larger font. The balance between text and empty space on the front of the label makes it easier to locate and read important information. Overall, the simple design communicates the information clearly while the decorative elements like the leaf and orange accents highlight distinguishing features of the product without being overwhelming.
Ineffective Communication Design
The Razzy Fresh punch card is an example of bad communication design primarily because of difficult to read fonts and poorly placed hole punches. The fun font used for the Razzy Fresh logo is acceptable because it is readable and matches the logo on the front of the store, however the font used for “Buy 9 yogurts & Get 10 oz, Free” is too complicated to be easily readable which is not a good choice for meaningful content. Yellow type on a dark background is also more difficult to read. The placement of the text on the opposite side of the raspberries which denote the placement of the punches is a poor choice because every time the card is punched, words and characters from the other side are lost. It would not be such an issue if the hole punches interrupted graphics or the text advertising the “live and active cultures” in the yogurt, but details like the phone numbers and addresses of different locations cannot be understood by a customer pulling the card out of their wallet on the go if bits and pieces are missing. Overall, the design is too complicated with many colors and fonts and the placement of the hole punches is not well thought out.
