OUGD505 - SB2 Social Issues

After looking at different social issues that face our society, it was possible to establish several issues that would be most approachable for a design project. This includes chemical weapons, capital punishment or the legalisation of Cannabis debate. For the chemical weapons issue, there are several approaches that could be taken, including anti-weapon demonstration. For capital punishment, there are mixed opinions that could be represented, as the debate is controversial. The same thing can be said about the debate as to whether Cannabis should be legalised in the UK, as there are several places in the world currently experimenting with the legalisation of the drug.

The debate for legalisation of Cannabis could be approached through packaging design. This idea came about when thinking about the places that Cannabis is legally sold in other countries. In Amsterdam, several coffee shops sell Cannabis as part of their menu, which has been a prominent part of dutch culture and has attracted tourists from all over the world. There are now several coffee shops that have world wide attention, include the famous Bulldog coffee shop.

The aim of the project would be to re-design current products that are available, in a way that shows the sale of Cannabis to be as ordinary as legal products. For example, Starbucks sell different products in their stores that are in some way related to coffee, including coffee beans and flavoured drinks. However, if Cannabis were to be sold in a similar manner there would most likely be a change in the social stigmatisation attached to the drug. In some areas of Amsterdam, where Cannabis is legal, there have been several stores that experiment with products that are related to or include Cannabis. This could be in the form of butter, infused candles, drinks, food and clothing.

To approach the design aspect of the project, it would be essential to first understand the way in which current businesses, like Starbucks, promote their products to their customers. This will mean looking at the packaging design, labels, store layouts, advertisements and the audience. From this it will be possible to establish a set of guide lines to use when designing and marketing the Cannabis products.


Starbucks

When looking at an example of the store layout for Starbucks, we can see that their approach to visual presentation is based around the origins of the coffee. This may be by displaying fair trade information, where the coffee comes from and how it is made. The interior design includes the use of dark wood, burlap sacks and chalk boards, which give the customers a surrounding that reflects the type of business that Starbucks is. In the same way, interior design for selling Cannabis products could also relate to the origins of the drug and the processes involved in making the products.

Starbucks also have a range of 'on-the-go' products for sale, which use similar graphic approaches as the products found on the in-store menu. This includes simplistic and minimalistic design, limited colour palettes and re-use of the typeface for each product. As white is one of the primary colours for the brand's visual presentation, it is often found in the text or as a background for darker text to reflect on. The use of sans-serif fonts also reflect a modern, simple design choice.

When looking at the layout in an Amsterdam coffee shop, we can identify similarities to regular coffee retailers. Behind the counter, the store offers customers cannabis related products, such as drinks, cakes and other consumables. It also sells clothing, branded with the same logo as the coffee shop, which is likely to have a popular selling point with tourists. This coffee shop in particular was called Baba, located in Amsterdam. We can see from the interior, that the theme of the shop is based around Indian tradition and particularly religious symbolism found in Asia. Cannabis, is to this day a present part of Indian culture, as people have used it to achieve an 'enlightened' state of mind as well as seeing it as an offering to Shiva. The use of cannabis within Indian culture can date back as far as 2000bc, proving that this particular coffee shop has been inspired by the origins of cannabis use.

In the same way that regular coffee franchises and shops offer coffee menus, cannabis coffee shops also use menus to inform their customers of the prices of cannabis. This example shows that the use of a chalk board makes the menu similar in nature to any other business. This may prove useful during the initial ideas stage of the project, as it provides an example of the typeface found within coffee shops. 

Coffee shops tend to sell other products in the form of sweets, such as the ones shown in this picture. These products are likely to be purchased by customers who may be new to cannabis, as these products offer an alternative approach to the mainstream ways of consuming cannabis. They also present the customer with something they can enjoy, if they are uninterested in smoking cannabis.