Studio Brief 1 - KFC bucket design idea generation

Initial ideas

To begin ideas for the design of the KFC bucket, it is first necessary to look at the key intentions of the company. This way the brand's image and aspirations are incorporated in the design.

• Togetherness - The brand is known for having products that are shared among people. By looking at design that is made for families or other groups, it may be possible to get inspiration for the new KFC bucket.
• Food content - KFC are passionate about the food they sell and show their customers that the chicken they use is regulated and humanely maintained. 
• Heritage - The brand is reflective of its history in southern USA. Marketing this geographical location can be appealing to audiences, as it allows them to visualise the heritage of the food.
• Simplistic - The design is always simple, using just a handful of colours from the same colour scheme. Trying new colours may bring uniqueness to the design.

Having looked at some previous designs for the KFC bucket, as well as the advertisements for the company, it is clear that the brand likes to keep the design simple. This limitation of colour use and imagery allows for the food to be the focus presentation when served in it's packaging. This will mean that creating a design that it simple, but enticing will be the best option. Some food and drink companies use design as a way to mimic certain flavours. This helps the customer visualise the taste of a product, from the subtle shapes and design choices, shown on the packaging. One example of this would be the use of sharp edged shapes, such as a star, as it is almost representative of sharp flavours. This is mostly found in foods that contain spices, or in drinks such as larger, as they have zesty, sharp flavours.

This inclusion of shapes may give the audience a hint as to what the product tastes like. Particularly in the case of KFC, their chicken recipe contains 11 different herbs and spices. The design is also likely to be celebratory of the brand in a way that will attract a wide variety of audiences, but primarily the target audience of 18 - 34 year olds.

As shown here, the design for the bucket involved the use of the 3 main colours used throughout KFC's branding. In addition to the main colours, other shades of the red were added to give the designs variety and mimicked an image of different flavours. The choice of the small stars in the design were used as a way to visualise a sense of Southern American influence. 

The use of stars could also be seen in a different way, as Synaesthesia allows for the design to entice the viewer into thinking about the flavours, without them having to see the food. The decision to use red stripes or banners was to give the design a celebratory feel which would be attractive to most of the targeted audience. The inclusion of the brands Colonel Sanders logo was also necessary, as it is a staple part of the brand's image and is frequently re-used.