Deconstructing Print

For this deconstruction task we were in small groups of about 4. We were given some pairs of words to compare and discuss the print against.

Bacchus Frambozenbier
Content & Categorisation: It is a Belgium rasberry flavoured beer. It has a quite traditional look to it with some connotations of a kind of european medieval time. The typeface is really classical and almost a bit biblical which also suggests an older style of tradition. It seems relevant to |Belgium as it is a country with a long history and the design kind of references the past.
In terms of research, the market is probably quite niche as the beer seems to be a specialist style of beer.
They have used really simple design with basic symbols of the raspberries which is appropriate imagery and matches the style of the whole print.
The design is also quite boldly multi lingual for Belgium, Germany and the UK.
It also has an appropriate colour which is relevant to the flavour of the beer, so the packaging is well related to the product it goes with.
The colours are very simple though there are 6 of them.

Form and Format: The product is obviously packaging. The style of wrapping up the bottle in paper rather than using a sticker has a much more traditional and classy feel to it. Wrapping is also much more physical than a sticker and stands out from the bottle which makes the whole product stand out. It encourages audience interaction.
The product generally stands out as being different on a shelf in a supermarket.
This style of packaging is more primitive but it suggest a kind of analogue class and personality.
The design is simple which makes it simple to print.
Dimensions wise it has unconventional dimensions of 33.5 x 39.5 cm.

Product and Range: At least 1 oter known Bacchus beer. The simple design allows for it to be easily edited and it can be simply changed to relate across a range. You can already imagine the other beer without needing to see it as all they would need to do is change the symbol of fruit and the main colour of the packaging and then just a few words. The product branding works across a range of products (There are Bacchus coasters etc with the same logo). This means that it can be effectively promoted and the branding across a range works to unify the product.

Media and Process: The packaging could be either Lithographic or Flexographic printing process although it was almost definitely web printed. It is likely to be a 6 colour spot colour rather than CMYK as there are 6 colours on the design and they look solid rather than mixed from others. The packaging was probably cut at the end of the printing process and then most likely applied to the bottle by a machine somehow.

Audience and Interaction: The packaging is much more interactive than many other beers as it has to be kind of unwrapped. This make it much more personal and is almost a selling point on its own. It has the look of a quality product which means it may cost a bit more than an average beer. It gives the impression of being a higher class of beer and could even be bought as a gift.

Form and Function: The function is to brand the product and connote the authentic tradition of Belgium and do it genuinely. As explained above, the format of the packaging does this well.

Scale and Context: An average scale with unusual dimensions. It has been scaled for the size of the bottle and follows the shape of the bottle. It has also been designed for positioning on a shelf in a shop as this is where it will eventually end up to be sold.