Meld
Brand & Packaging Project
How can innovative brand and packaging solutions be a catalyst for busy people to improve
their eating?
My project is motivated by research into the growing popularity of convenience foods and how
consumer health suffers as a result. New Zealand based Public Health Nutritionist Dr Helen Eyles
(Science Media Centre, 2014) states “Packaged foods, especially those which have undergone a lot
of processing, tend to be high in adverse nutrients such as saturated fat, salt and sugar. Therefore,
in an ideal world we would all be eating predominantly whole, fresh, unprocessed foods. However,
cost, convenience and other factors mean that packaged foods are often included in our diets.”
Brand and packaging design is employed to present a new meal system that consists of controlled
portion sizes and organic wholefoods, to cater to the needs of busy health-conscious consumers.
To understand this method of building a meal I have established a graphic system to illustrate the
principles of individual servings, the respective nutritional categories and how when five packages
are melded together, one wholesome meal is produced.
I was concerned with developing a new graphic language to convey Meld’s brand values of
honesty and natural goodness by addressing the use of ‘greenwashing’, typically used to imply
ecologically friendly products. Consumer research studies state that consumers are wary of the
conventional signifiers of sustainability and ‘health food’ promises, which I have addressed with
a concept that focuses on transparency and system.
Positioned as an independent convenience food market in metro city centres, Meld offers the
best of two worlds, fast moving consumer good convenience and healthy wholefoods. It seeks to
improve both consumer health and minimise environmental waste by reducing the quantity of
food consumed and excess food disposed of. Meld promotes a healthy lifestyle inside and out.
Science Media Centre. (2014, June 30). Health star rating food labelling – experts respond.
Retrieved from http://www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2014/06/30/health-star-ratingfood-
labelling-experts-respond/
