My son and I love stories. We are fond of creating our own stories and taking them in the direction of our imagination the way we want. In one such story, a mouse sets up a factory. Her products are ready to be sold. She got stuck because she needed to decide what the name of the product brand could be and how she would send it for selling.
This sparked a deeper exploration of product logistics and branding. The next few days were occupied with the packaging of products.
Following are the activities we did –
- We took out all the packages from our home and neighbor’s home.
- We explored multiple brand names across product categories like food, toiletries, shoes, cell phones, laptops, medicines, and perfumes.
- Next in the queue was understanding logos and their need.
- Different packets were segregated in piles based on their category and the discussion proceeded with actual packaging.
- A few general observations noted by my son – Color – Generally, food packets use red, orange, or yellow as the primary color. Toiletries use blue, green, and white colors mainly. Medicine strips (pills) are metallic in color just like phones and laptops. Liquid medicines bottles are brown. Material – Plastic, aluminum foil, paper, and glass. He noted that perfume bottles are glass-only packaging. Content – Manufacturer name, Batch number, Manufacturing date, expiry date, Ingredients, and usage instructions. However, the food packets also mention nutritional value, a mark for vegetarian or non-vegetarian, and the FSSAI logo. For medicines, he read about the minimum temperature required to store medicine. MRP Different sizes.
- The discussion automatically steered him to understand FSSAI. What are regulatory bodies for other types of packets like medicines? Why do we need regulatory bodies?
- How to read nutrition labels? What does the order of ingredients on the food package mean (of course he was shocked to realize how much sugar he consumes daily).
- He was curious to know how the products were shipped from a factory.
- Who designs the logo and packets?
Some funny observations/questions –
Why have we kept the parachute coconut oil in the bathroom if it shows a mark of a vegetarian food item?
Why do some products display funny price tags like Rs.99 or Rs. 26.99?
Why don’t they use a long nozzle spray bottle for perfumes?
Why does cola/soda come in bottles or cans but never in a tetra-pack like other liquid food items?
The milk does not get spoiled in a few hours because tetra-pack milk expires in a few months (so don’t force me to finish my milk fast).
Why do laptops and phones come in boring colors?
Vehicles are the only items that do not come in a packet
The most difficult-to-read packaging is for medicines.
Some Interesting activities we did-
Take anything from the house. Create a brand, and a logo, and design its packaging.
Treat yourself as a product and design a package.
Trust me this was my masterclass in packaging and also in personal branding. I don’t remember learning so much during my MBA which I learned in the last few weeks.
You can read more about exploratory learning in Aarohi community by reading many articles on their website.
Following two articles are listed for reference
Various Explorations – Summer at Aarohi
Curiosity is my favorite compass
It does not point towards right
It does not point towards wrong
It just points towards living
take me there
– Joey Doherty