The Subway Console - The world's most popular submarine sandwich chain Subway taking a spin in the video game market with this retro-tribute novelty console. This is what said console's packaging w
Understand the Problem
-What is brand extension?
-Definition: When a company uses an already established brand name on a new product or product category
-A brand extension is when a company uses it's name to branch out into new things that are either very far from the original company or closely related but different
-What are my options?
-I can attempt to create something completely new and unheard of
-thing would take longer, and require more research
-OR I can create something that builds off an existing idea and make it my own
-this would still require a large amount of research but open up more opportunity to innovate and improve by instead of making something new, attempting to improve
-I can create the packing for different purposes such as:
-marketing the brand as in creating something new to draw attention toward the brand and not necessarily the new thing itself
-making existing packing new convenient for consumers to use, innovating
-in the same vain, making existing packing for secure and protective
-making packaging to be more informative, to advertise and make people understand the specifics a little bit better
-What do I actually need to create?
-Research to accurately portray the Subway brand in a new way
-Designs to enhance the purpose of the packaging
-Typography to display the information that the design is trying to explain
-A physical box to attach the packing designs to in order to properly demonstrate my design
Things to consider:
-What qualifies as "packaging"?
-Definition: the science, art, or technology of enclosing and protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, or use
-Proper packaging must serve the purpose of containing a product
-meaning it must be able to stay together easily, not easily breached
-Proper packaging must properly portray the product contained inside
-It must also display any further information that the consumer needs to know
-Proper packing must be fun to look at similar to an infographic
-meaning the packing needs to capture consumers attention, because if it doesn't do this then the consumer might never come across the product in the first place
-If the packaging is well designed and fun to look at, then the consumer will want to learn more about the product inside to convince them to purchase it
-Packaging requirements
-containment
-security
-protection
-convenience
-information
-marketing
-Evolutionary or Revolutionary?
-Evolutionary: small changes to already established formats
-Revolutionary: a totally new approach to for a product
Research and Investigate
Know your product:
-Sources:
-subway.com
-usbrandcolors.com
-slideshare.net
-Brand/Identity
-The world's largest submarine sandwich chain
-Colors: Vivid Green - #008C15
Marigold - #FFC600
-Core products & services
-Sub Sandwiches
-Featured subs: Meatball Marinara, Black Forest Ham, Italian, Tuna ETC.
-You can make your own sandwich from scratch with branded healthy ingredients
-Salads
-Wraps
-food dish made with soft flatbread rolled around a filling
-Protein Bowls
-Meat with a salad
-Cookies
-Double Chocolate Chip, Rainbow Candy Chip, Chocolate Chip, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut, Raspberry Cheesecake
-Demographic
-Target Market: younger adults (16-39)
-"Demanding younger people who know their own minds"
-youngsters who like nutrition rather than pizza, burgers, and fries
Awesome packaging design examples:
-Sources:
-creativebloq.com/packaging/inspirational-packaging
-canva.com/learn/packaging-design
-lovelypackage.com
Develop a plan:
Based on all the research I have done, I have come up with some sort of plan. I want to build off of an existing idea and make it my own. So, video game consoles. A brand extension is when an already established brand name creates something that is outside of their field. Subway, a fast-food sub sandwich chain, making something like a video game console fits that definition perfectly. Back into this idea being based off of an already existing one, the thing is that this is already been done before. The brand KFC has advertised a console that has yet to come out. This is what game me this idea, I want to do that but with an completely new and different brand: subway.
Doing this idea means I would have to design or make a mock-up of the console itself, although the final project itself will be a mock-up prototype, so that fits anyways. The entire packaging design will be around what this console looks like. This will determine the dimensions and many other factors.
Also since I am basing my design off of something
Generate Possible Solutions
Brainstorming:
Thumbnail Sketches:
Select and Develop Best Solution
What inspired my best solution?
-My best solution out of the around five I made, was what I called it the "Sandwich Making Station v2". The inspiration of this box design is well, a sandwich making station similar to what you would first see when entering a Subway. The v2 part of the name is the design that instead of actually using a transparent plastic for the sandwich stand, that is just apart of the design and is meant to be an illusion of sorts.
Why have I made these compositional choices
-I have made these choices to lead to this final design by process of elimination, and considering things such as what would be the most practical, while still considering what would be the most creative and eye catching. One example of this is my decision between the v1 and v2 designs. While v1 would be cool, it lacks practicality and would take a much longer time to do correctly, while also not practically leaving enough space in the box to contain everything that a standard video game console comes with.
What fonts might I use?
-In terms of fonts, I should really keep it simple. Helvetica or another simple font for the information makes sense. For the title, I plan on doing some research into fonts to match the Subway font style. For other text, I might want to use a bold or impact font to catch people's attention.
How will I create hierarchy of information?
-The very first thing in the hierarchy would be the box design, this is the thing that will catch people's attention and bring them to check it out. the second element in the hierarchy is of course the product itself, or to be more precise an image of the product that is on the front of the box. By just these first two elements alone people will already know this product has something to do with sandwiches, and more specially subway sandwiches due to the iconic sandwich making station. From then on, the title will be next in the hierarchy, telling the consumers what exactly the product is. From then on is the smaller information, like text saying it's the "world's first sandwich console". The last element in the hierarchy will of course be all the information that comes with this console, the standard information.
Product Description:
-A retro inspired video game console made from a Subway sandwich
Target Audience
-The target audience for this product would be the same exact target audience for the Subway submarine sandwich chain. That demographic being younger adults in the age range of 16 to 39. Although, with the rising popularity of video games, this specific product will reach into the younger audience of around 8-15 year olds. Doing this may limit interest of older customers, although there will still be a market for the older customers in that this is a new and possibly collectible thing that older video game fans would like to own.
Price Point:
-The starting price for this console will be $150. The reason for this is that by making a video game console, we are directly competing against the giant brands like Nintendo and Sony. By pricing the console lower, that will give more incentive for people to buy this console over the more expensive ones of our competitors. This is because the cheapest console on the market right now is $200, that being the Nintendo Switch Lite. By pricing this console a whole $50 lower, there is incentive for consumers to buy this console instead. That reason, and also the reason that this console will be more of a novelty, rather than a high-end modern console as it can only run more classic games, as well as a few exclusive titles. With that being said, $150 is a good starting price. This price may or may not go down with time.
Product Size:
This size of the console itself is 12x3.5x3 inches. The box is already specifically designed to accommodate this, and the dominions of the box's base will be 13x6x6, which the upper triangular part of the box is 13x6x5 which will be directly above the base of the box.
Type Specimens:
-The World's First Sandwich Console!
-This will be emphasized at the front of the box, used to further capture the consumer's attention and desire to purchase.
-Play Over 100 Classic Games!
-This is another promise that comes with this console, it will have the ability to play a ton of classic arcade games making this console more of a novelty rather than a high-end console similar to the NES classic
-Comes With 3 Whole New Games!
-there will be three unique games developed for this console, as more incentive to buy this novelty console
Ten words associated with the product
-Game, Fun, Sandwich, Classic, Novelty, Subway, Controller, Console, Arcade, Unique
Possible Color Schemes:
-Subway Green and Yellow
-Tile grey, making it look like the sandwich station
-Green Yellow and Grey
Possible Materials:
-Cardboard, Paper, Stickers, Foam Board, Plastic
Model and Prototype
Below are some screenshots of my design process for this Subway Console
How did elements fit together?
I made multiple illustrator and photoshop files for each part of the box. From the front, sides, back, bottom, and inside.The box itself is a Subway sandwich making station, so that is what it is being made to look like.
How did I use color and typography?
With color, I have committed to using this three color color scheme of the Subway colors of green and yellow, and along with a grayscale. The green and yellow are being used wherever there is a need for a color. The grayscale element of it all is being demonstrated by the box being made out of grey bricks, and metal.
With typography, I went with three different fonts. For the first font, I used it in the title. This is supposed to be a 1980's vibe font, as the console is a retro novelty. For the second, font, I went with the classic bold, impact font. I used this font to grab costumer's attention, this combined with the colored stars do just this. This last font I used is just simple helvetica. I used this in the console information, as it is simple and easy to read.
Test and Evaluate
Reflection on my successes
What did I do right in this project? Well for one, I have succeed in what I set out to do. I set out to research on packaging and Subway, make designs using graphics and typography, and to make a physical prototype of everything put together. I have achieved just this. But beyond my basic goal, what else have I achieved? I have succeed in my research of packaging, Subway, and video games. I have demonstrated this in my package design. I really like how much detail I put into the whole sandwich making station element of it. That is defiantly what took the most time, doing the research to figure out what is on Subway's menu, and where in the trays each ingredient goes. I really like my recreation of the sauces. I also really like the list of games I made. If this were an actual project then I would definitely be interested in buying it. So I have succeed in marketing.
Reflection on my shortcomings
What could be improved on what I currently have? Well to be frank, a lot. First of all my typography work could be a lot better and more professional looking. As my design is now, it looks very amateur and early prototype like. I have a lot to learn in terms of using typography, and using certain fonts. Color is another thing that I am not satisfied with. The grey bricks make sense, but it looks super plain. Also the visible cardboard is very bad. The reason for this is that while working on this project I shifted designs. I shifted from sandwich making station v2 to sandwich making station v1. I did this because I could not manage the whole perspective thing that I wanted to do. Because of this, I failed to realize that I needed to make designs for the inside to cover up the inside cardboard. I also unfortunately; never had the chance to get feedback, so this current design (my final design) is also my first design.
Produce
This was a very strange project for me. From the beginning I thought that this idea was kind of stupid, but even though I still went through with it. In the end I made something that I am still somewhat proud of. I know it can be so much better and this is what bugs me so much about it. The biggest problem with this project was simply lack of time and time management. If I were to have more time, then I could have said that I am fully proud of this project. But for now, it is what it is. Seeing what I have made, I would say that it turned out okay, and maybe the idea wasn't a stupid one after all. It's more silly than stupid. A sandwich restaurant making a video game console? It is very silly indeed.
