Design For Good

Client: FDA

Project Title: What’s in your Protein?

Duration: Fall 2016

Team: Florida International University Graphic Design History Group 1 Class:

·       Professor: Silvia Pease

·       Students: Santiago Cevallos, Samantha Gonzalez, Kimberley Espinoza, and Yekaterina Lobuzova

Project Brief

There is an increasing concern of what ingredients and chemicals are put into meats or proteins. There needs to be a labeling system put in place in order to inform consumers on what is in their protein (meat or tofu). The World Health Organization released a report classifying processed meats as level 1 carcinogen and red meat as level 2 carcinogens. 

The group is going to build a system that is similar in appearance to a traffic light that will let you know if the protein products contain 0 chemicals (organic) or contain more than 10 unnatural ingredients. 0 chemicals will be represented with the color green. If the protein has a moderate amount of chemicals, then it will be represented with the color yellow. If the product has more than 10 unnatural ingredients, then it will be classified as red. This will be put on all packaging labels so consumers can quickly see if they want to purchase the product or not.

Budget

The group did not have a budget, but the general idea of the labels are already designed to sell the FDA the project so they can get a taste of the look and feel.

Research

Blippar.com – Augmented Reality advertising and marketing app.

Buycott.com

Chemical Maze

Films

·       Food, Inc.

·       King Corn

·       GMO OMG

·       Seeds of Death : Unveiling the lies of GMO’s

Books

·      Naveen Thayyil: Biotechnology Regulation and GMOs

·      B Nelson : Genetically Modified Organisms in Agriculture

·      BERNHARD A. KOCH : Damage Caused by Genetically Modified Organisms: Comparative Survey of Redress Options for Harm to Persons, Property or the Environment

·      Dayna Scott : Damage Caused by Genetically Modified Organisms: Comparative Survey of Redress Options for Harm to Persons, Property or the Environment

Articles:

World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/features/qa/cancer-red-meat/en/

Strategy

What’s in Your Protein will be implemented into the printing process of all protein-based products sold at any grocery store. It will be introduced to merchants first. A brief workshop will be held to help them become knowledgeable on the new protein labeling system and be prepared to answer any questions customers have on this new system.

Customers will become aware of the new labeling system on their products through smart advertising throughout the store. The labels will be legible through the use of the same recognizable color system of Red, Yellow and Green. When launching the new labeling system, What’s in Your Protein will have posters throughout the market explaining what each color means and how consuming this product will affect your body to help the customer become accustomed to this new labeling system.

 

Challenges

         The biggest challenge would arise when getting the approval from the Food and Drug Administration to include these symbols on all of the food labels. It would be inherent to provide the right amount of research and data to back up our claim that different kinds of protein needs to be labeled in order to inform the consumer about the chemicals within the product.

            The group needed to create a simple labeling system that would be eye-catching and straight to the point. Several designs had to be proposed before all agreed on the “traffic light” idea. Working as a group had its challenges as well and each member’s strengths needed to be utilized to come up with the concept.

            The label design had its own challenges. The group had to design a shape that would be simple to recognize for the consumer when it was placed on a certain protein product. The group decided that the shape of the label would represent that of a chemical symbol of a protein: the hexagon. Also, the shape needed to have a certain color that would describe the level of critical chemicals located inside the product. A series of three labels would be created with their respective red, yellow, and green colors. With the chosen colors the idea became clear that as a whole the label could be representative of a traffic light. Overall, the system needed to be clear and effective in order for the consumer to understand what type of protein they are purchasing and putting into their bodies.

 

Effectiveness

Though not yet actualized, this project is set to create awareness and work in tandem with many already used and trusted apps to further raise awareness of what people are consuming. Brightly colored labels in the familiar “traffic-light” sequence help create an association with already set in place ideals. For example: Should a consumer see a green hexagon on their chosen product the association process should cause that consumer to think “Green-good-god”. At the least, making their decision process faster, more informed and simpler.

After the labels become well known this system should be implemented by major apps such as Blippar and Buycott. Consumers will then be given the option of scanning these labels to receive details on what exactly is present in their food.

The labels will focus on protein-based foods and the chemicals present within them, hence the basic hexagonal shape (a rough translation of what a protein sequence appears to look like) to distinguish it from other labels and information on packaging. The connection to apps also allows for social media connections to further spread awareness. Students around campus should have no trouble identifying these labels and understanding the simple design formula as it is based off the traffic-light systems.

Those that have seen the virtual prototypes have stated that they would approve of this program to be put into effect across college campuses. This system could promote a healthier lifestyle especially for those that workout frequent on campus gyms and consume meals with high amounts of protein.