Perspectives on food packaging design

This special issue seeks to provide a snapshot of current scholarship on food packaging design across a range of disciplines (history, linguistics, perception, marketing and design), engaging in a variety of methodologies. A special issue of this nature is particularly needed as packaging has been widely under-represented as a subject of serious attention, whether in national libraries, major design surveys or much academic scholarship, particularly in the humanities. Beyond introducing the collected articles of the special issue, this editorial article reviews existing studies of packaging across a range of disciplines. These studies have contributed to our understanding of food packaging design and provide a useful analytical tool box. The final section will introduce the articles that make up the special issue and discuss their contribution to the nascent scholarship of food packaging

Can Ambient Scent Enhance the Nightlife Experience?

Ever since smoking was prohibited in restaurants, bars, and clubs, undesirable smells that were previously masked by cigarette smoke became noticeable. This opens up opportunities to improve the dance club environment by introducing pleasant ambient scents that mask the unwanted odors and to allow competing clubs to differentiate themselves. A field study was conducted at three dance clubs using a 3 × 3 Latin square design with pre- and post-measurements of no-scent control conditions. The three scents tested were orange, seawater, and peppermint. These scents were shown to enhance dancing activity and to improve the evaluation of the evening, the evaluation of the music, and the mood of the visitors over no added scent. However, no significant differences were found between the three scents

Adding some zest to product development articles: How food technology findings can spark designers’ interest

To qualify as food design, technological details must be placed in perspective of the all-encompassing challenge of designing a successful, tasty food product that contributes to a desirable society. Articles describing food product development typically focus on technological issues, while they should provide a broader, multidisciplinary perspective to inform food design. Furthermore, food design articles also consider the creative and developmental processes followed to innovate. Including a description of the future consumption context can complete the discourse

Perspectives on food packaging design

Abstrac

How to include the sociocultural context in food design: Insights, tools and strategies

Designers hope that their innovations will be adopted by the people they are designed for. How well their designs align with consumers’ cultural contexts is a key determinant of whether they are accepted or rejected. This is especially important for food solutions, as eating habits are deeply rooted in local cultures. However, academic disciplines from the humanities and social sciences that study food culture not always provide the knowledge, methods and tools that food designers need. Whereas these disciplines mainly investigate the past and present, designers look to the future to create new possibilities. In addition, designers often look for concrete, physical touchpoints they can use, whereas the other disciplines may look for sources of underlying meaning and, thereby, may generate conclusions that remain rather generic or abstract. In this article we discuss how culture and cultural context can be understood and utilized by designers. We describe models and tools designers can use to gain sociocultural insights, and we describe different strategies designers can employ to build on such knowledge in their design process. We conclude with suggestions to close the gaps between designers, design researchers and the other disciplines that study food culture

Food design: Connecting disciplines

Abstrac