I am 100% a night owl. I dread mornings and require a lot of caffeine to get going. I feel my most creative at night. I have always loved the hours 10 pm to 2 am for working on projects, binge-watching my favorite shows, or finishing a good book. I am constantly inundated with media suggesting I change my ways and become a morning lark. I see articles and products every week claiming they can improve my life by making me a morning person. But I say, STOP! Let us embrace being night owls and enjoy our late evenings. Stay up late, finish your homework, create a masterpiece, watch episode 42, or read those last 100 pages.
Concept
Nite Bites is a line of snack products meant to be consumed at night to meet those late-night cravings and provide a boost to power through project deadlines or the last episode of your latest binge-watch. The snacks are packaged in extra quiet packaging so you don’t alert your pets or wake up your housemates.
The Brand: Nite Bites are snacks that are good to eat late at night. They lean towards healthy, but with more focus on taste. The snacks are miniature or bite-size for quiet eating. They feature quiet packaging for late-night consumption. The packaging is also sustainable (conscious of environmental issues). The brand is youthful yet modern and something that stands out on the shelf. The night owl is the main protagonist of the brand. The brand uses bold, hand-drawn illustrations and typography to express a friendly, approachable personality.
Target Audience: Night owls* — people who stay up past 10 pm to either work, play, or have time to themselves. The target audience lives in the United States, is aged 18 and up, cohabitates with humans or animals, and enjoys treating themselves with tasty snacks, especially late at night. They are smart and creative and also interested in the environment.
*Night owls: the chronotype that drives people to go to bed later and rise later. Studies show night owls and those who wake up later are actually smarter and more creative than their early-rising counterparts. Night owls have a burst of energy in the evenings to put toward creative endeavors, invention, and imagination. The evening hours are the perfect time to experience a creative breakthrough. (Source)
Inspiration
Process
STEP ONE: Research Millennial food trends. Millennials shop less often at traditional grocery stores and are more influenced by their peers rather than traditional media. They tend to buy "better-for-you" snacks and spend more on foods that require less preparation when eating at home. Their highest budget share goes to prepared foods, snacks, sugar, and sweets. They dedicate less time to eating meals and more time to eating snacks. Their preference is for convenience and they indulge in daily snacking. Taste is the highest predictor of success — healthy snacks must taste as good or better than regular snacks. Millennials love: 1. healthy, clean label, natural foods (natural, organic, sustainable, better-for-you); 2. environmentally-conscious and sustainable sourcing; 3. ethnic foods; 4. SNACKS — they will skip meals in favor of snacks, they search for energy and nutrition from their snacks, they will pay more for better-for-you snacks.
STEP TWO: Research snack foods. Find the common ground between foods that are healthy nighttime snacks (oatmeal, popcorn, peanut butter, nuts/seeds, cheese, trail mix, dark chocolate, yogurt, veggies, etc.) and snacks that people enjoy eating late at night (cookies, brownies, chips, popcorn, chocolate, ice cream, candy, etc.). Final snack choices: oatmeal and dark chocolate chip cookies, salted caramel and chocolate-covered pretzel ice cream sandwiches, peanut butter brownies, trail mix, three-cheese popcorn, and jalapeno cheddar crackers.
STEP THREE: Research sustainable and quiet packaging options. I determined that paper and cardboard packaging would be quieter than crinkly plastic packaging. I then searched to find recycled and compostable options. To be home compostable, any freshness linings applied to the paperboard/paper need to be plant-based films. No plastics or foils can be used. To stretch for even more sustainable packaging, vegetable- or algae-based inks should be used for printing.
STEP FOUR: Branding Iteration
Final Packaging Designs
Bibliography
Anderson, Gail. Outside the Box. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press, 2015.
Atchison, Aaron, and Nicole Armstrong. “Coffee Bar Packaging: Inside an Agency’s Packaging Design Process.” YouTube. Do Good Work, July 19, 2019. https://youtu.be/YJtQiJJh-QU.
Atchison, Aaron. “Kombucha Beverage: Inside an Agency’s Packaging Design Process: Art Center.” YouTube. Do Good Work, April 18, 2019. https://youtu.be/QNZC-NQYppI.
Charles, Amber. “5 Types of Eco-Friendly Food Packaging (and 3 to Avoid).” Healthline. Healthline Media, May 14, 2021. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/eco-friendly-food-packaging.
Dieline. Accessed September 18, 2021. https://thedieline.com/.
Elevate Packaging. Accessed September 25, 2021. https://elevatepackaging.com/.
Gordon, Chloe. “Thinking Outside the Carton with Sacred Serve.” Dieline, September 16, 2021. https://thedieline.com/blog/2021/9/16/sacred-serve.
Gordon, Chloe. “We’re Nuts about Nono’s Snack Packaging.” Dieline, September 8, 2021. https://thedieline.com/blog/2021/9/8/nonos-snack.
Hyslop, Gill. “Pringles’ Iconic Tube Pilots an Eco-Makeover in UK.” bakeryandsnacks.com. William Reed Business Media Ltd., September 10, 2020. https://www.bakeryandsnacks.com/Article/2020/09/10/Pringles-iconic-tube-pilots-an-eco-makeover-in-UK.
Jedlicka, Wendy. Sustainable Graphic Design: Tools, Systems, and Strategies for Innovative Print Design. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2010.
Keller, Don. “Branding Lessons from the Snack Food Aisle.” Marketing Insights Blog - Informative posts to help grow your business! Accessed September 18, 2021. https://blog.catalpha.com/branding-lessons-from-the-snack-food-aisle.
Kroes, Ian. “Night Owls Are Smarter, More Creative & Have Higher IQs.” Peninsula Doctor, August 2, 2016. https://www.peninsuladoctor.com/blog/night-owls-are-smarter-more-creative-have-higher-iqs/.
Lynch, Matt, and Andy Kryza. “The 100 Best Snacks of All Time.” Thrillist, October 20, 2017. https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/best-snack-foods-chips-candy-ranking.
Menis, Beatrice. “The ABC of Packaging Design: Back of Pack: Beatrice Menis.” Skillshare. Skillshare. Accessed October 31, 2021. https://skl.sh/3GDjBzs.
Sownie, Carrie. “Snack Branding: The Ultimate Guide to Munch On.” 99designs. 99designs, April 22, 2021. https://en.99designs.pt/blog/logo-branding/snack-branding/.
Sweet, Melina. “How to Prepare for a Brand Identity Mood Board.” YouTube. Do Good Work, July 29, 2019. https://youtu.be/5uHZNZc38II.
“Top 5 Millennial Food Trends: What Do Millennials like to Eat?” DFA Ingredient Solutions, September 10, 2020. https://dfaingredients.com/trends/millennial-food-trends/.