Design Evaluation of Ice Cream Packaging

I will analyze two ice cream companies: Breyers and Dreyer's. Both ice cream products are in the same price range and market demographics. Ice cream folklore claims that Dreyer’s picked their name solely to compete with Breyers. 

I will analyze the two designs using the Gestalt principles of Continuity and Similarity. 

The Law of Continuity states that lines are seen as following the smoothest path.  From a pure design standpoint Dreyer's wins this round. Their circle container is most defiantly the smoothest path.  Comparing quantity of ice cream, the oblong shape of Breyers is just not as easy to hold. I can easily picture myself curling up on the couch and eating right out of the Dreyer’s carton as the Breyers container leaves me wondering where to lead my hands to grab hold.

The Law of Similarity - To better show this law I have inserted several pictures of a variety of ice cream  competing in the same market.

Setting the cartons side by side, which one stands out? While Breyers has one of the most unique containers, standing out in this case is not the best idea because it matches two of the cheapest ice creams on the market. They are attempting to take a more luxurious approach to marketing in their price range, but they just seemed to get buried in the freezer section of the grocery store. Breyers missed the mark when it comes to family consumer pricing; seeming to market to a different consumer Who may not even look at the ice cream because it’s not a premium.  Items that look similar tend to be grouped together; Breyers may be end up becoming an outlier.   

The vertical lines on the Dreyer’s package not only make the container look larger but seem to point to the lid begging to be opened creating a fun filled ice cream eating atmosphere while the Breyers lid gets lost in all the darkness.  The Breyers black background and vanilla ice cream looks sharp when you put it together but the moment you place a chocolate based flavor (see top) on their label it no longer looks crisp but dirty. Dreyer’s hits the mark as the background color corresponds to the flavor in the package. This keeps each flavor looking just as fresh as the next.

I love how the building 

just seems come out of the ground. 

Please excuse my Google earth image of the surface image of the water fixture in front of the Eccels. For some reason the staff and faculty did not want me on the roof of the building.

Here I see the Law of Pragnanz.

I walk past this fountain every day and have always seen it as a triangle - a simple form - or maybe even as a diagonal line; but as I was taking pictures for this project I wondered what it looks like from the top?

Maybe it is just me, but if you stare at this image it starts to look like a music note. 

 As the ceiling panels cascade smaller and smaller, I see The Law of Continuity 

The Law of Proximity is in play here. The announcement boards are all grouped together.

 

Law of Similarity: all the practice rooms and offices are all grouped together throughout the building.

In the band room there is a great example of the Law of Closure. The white beam appears as one beam the entire way around the room.

Contrast, Harmony and Balance

I took this picture while in stride, hiking down to the Narrows in Zion National Park via the Riverside Walk. My parents were going through my photos and discovered this shot; loved the image and decided to print and frame it - so I decided to analyze this image. I know it’s not perfect but I see a lot of contrast, balance and harmony.

 Contrast - I love the contrast between the dark rock walls - as they funnel in toward the soft blue sky. The clouds provide softness, resembling a cotton ball. These forms of clouds have many small cloud pieces floating around the larger, as if once joined together; making the cloud look like a large cloud being pulled apart and a simple touch could make the whole thing vaporize. The flowing water with the still grass and trees around the Virgin River shows just how every piece of nature is intertwined with other aspects. If you look closely at the bottom right you can see were human attempts were made to keep the bank at bay. At first glance I was disappointed that I allowed the wire to be in the shot - I did not like seeing it because of a clear violation of such beautiful natural scenery - but I have learned to appreciate the contrast of man struggling with nature to attempt to control the banks so that access to visitors of the park can enjoy the contrast of a “permanent” structure fighting against the ever changing landscape.

Balance - The picture is asymmetrical, yet filled with symmetry as well.  The rock walls - on both sides - provide imperfect balance as the jagged tops do not line up with each other perfectly until the two walls seem to become one. The river also provides balance as it flows from left to right and curves back left becoming narrower as well, leading your eyes to the majestic split canyon. Two large trees on each side provided balance with just a little “dull” bark color in view amongst the more vivid colors of nature.

Harmony - Going back to the grated bank of the river (lower right) is where I find the most harmony.  As humans explore try to gain easy access to an area, when everything goes well the harmony and unmatched beauty of natural landscape is impossible to compare.  Even when flashfloods or other natural events wipe out or change any area, the harmony of wiping away the old with the contrast of the forming of a new environment gives to life’s harmonies of balance.