Wellesley’s Apple Butter (Student Project)

Designers: Aqil Raharjo & Anna Cipolla
Project Type: Student Project
School: OCAD University
Course: Packaging Design 1
Tutor: Stuart Werle
Location: Toronto, Canada
Packaging Contents: Jams/Spreads, Apple Butter
Packaging Materials: Glass, Paper

With the increasing sales in Jams, Preserves, Honey & All Natural products retail categories, there is quite a pressure from other competitors to Wellesley brand. Apple butter is definitely a healthier alternative than other breakfast jams/spreads in the market with no added sugar, no preservatives, and no fat. Compared to other Apple Butter competitors, Wellesley’s is all-natural and the only product of Canada that also 100% uses Ontario grown, tree ripened apples for their products. However, we believe that this packaging does not do its justice on portraying the quality, reliability, and the healthy aspect of the brand. The current design is outdated and becoming less relevant to the targeted consumers compared to other brands. While Brands like President’s Choice and Smuckers are really stepping up their game through their packaging, marketing strategy, and product quality we believe that by redesigning the packaging Wellesley will be able to compete with these brand giants.

By keeping the quality and tradition values of Wellesley in mind, we propose our design in which we believe is the most appealing to moms (particularly stay at home moms); the demographic of consumers who are most likely will buy the product the most. Wellesley’s Apple Butter is appealing to young adults, professionals and stay at home moms who have plenty of time to cook and curious to try new alternatives for their sugary spreads. Our proposed design will also reach to a wider range of audience, including young professionals that are looking for healthier alternatives of their sweet buttery cravings, apple enthusiasts as well as people on special diets. Not only it is an accessory food to put on a toast, consumers can also use apple butter for meat (pork, chicken, beef, even duck), snacks, and even desserts.

Illustration
Our design uses illustrations to communicate the content of the product. These illustrations are inspired by the sketch-styled illustrations of its current’s packaging label’s background, but maximizing its potential to create a friendlier, warm, and attractive atmosphere. By using sketch-styled illustrations within the product line, we are maintaining the company’s old traditions and key values.

While the current label looks formal and outdated, our design has a strong emphasis on making the product homier through the use of delightful aesthetics and choice of texts. We are hoping that the new design will effectively attract new consumers (young professionals, youths, moms) and maintain the already loyal clientele. No competitors use a big and bold illustration as their main focus within their packaging design, and our proposed design will make Wellesley stand out and eye catchy among its competitors on the shelves.

Logotype
The current logo is outdated and to maintain its relevancy and visual aesthetics to consumers’ preference, we have created a modern, fresh, and unique logo of the Wellesley brand. During the design phase, we extract some historical elements and key characteristics and maintaining the same idea to the new logo. We understand that the company is long established, therefore we are maintaining the use of serif in the logo and including the apple leaf from the current logo. By combining both the shape of the type and the leaf, the logo is creating a new visual interest to the consumers. We are also maintaining the text ‘since 1922’ since we believe this aspect is important for consumers (both new and loyal) in recognizing the brand.

Brand Block
We have created a strong brand block/system in order to differentiate both brand and the product line from competitors. Our design system is applicable for a future line of products within the brand. Apple Cranberry Butter & Apple Honey Butter are examples in which our system can be applied to.

Differentiable Lids
We have created a design system that differentiates the flavors through different colored lids. Red is inspired by the color of apples in Apple Butter, deep magenta/violet is inspired by the color of cranberries in Apple Cranberry Butter, and Orange is inspired by the color of honey in Apple Honey Butter.

Color System on Labels
We have established a system on each product’s label to better differentiate the flavors Wellesley could potentially offer. These colors match with the colors on the lids. The colors are also being incorporated in the 0-gram label to better portray the color block.

Similar Illustrated Compositions
Our illustrated compositions have a particular style and similar look. Within each of the three compositions, there is an illustration of apple as the main ingredient and other added consist of the main ingredient (apple) and the other substance on the side. While some apples are also drawn differently based on the specific apples used within the products, we are still maintaining the brand block throughout the each line of products.

Leaf Tag
In order to emphasize some key advantages of the Wellesley’s products, we decided to include an apple leaf-inspired tag for each product that we thought will effectively communicate to the prospective consumers. The advantages that we chose are that all of their products are made from quality tree ripened fresh Ontario grown apples, contains no fat and a product of Canada. No competitors use any tag to attract consumers, therefore we believe that this new approach to the consumers will be much appreciated by them.

What’s Unique?
We believe that our design is a unique approach to the current Apple Butter market. We are combining the use of illustration, serif & sans-serif texts, informative tag and use of colors as a brand block to the product line. We have created a unity out of these different design components and established a new visual interest compared to its competitors. None of its competitors use illustration as their main focus to distinguish each product line, and our design does.