Colors as visual indicators of food nutritional characteristics in milk packaging

Colors as visual indicators of food nutritional characteristics in milk packaging

Pereira, Carla; Rocha, Magaly

Full Article:

This paper investigates the use of colors as visual indicators on food packaging. To this end, reports a study on milk packaging consisting in the observation, record and analysis of the material; and presents the results of a questionnaire survey that was carried out with university students to identify users'' associations between colors and varieties of milk and their associative rules. The analysis shows that the distinction between types of milk found was due essentially to packaging colors, used as codes of differentiation, but the coding variations adopted by different manufacturers compromise the efficiency of the system. The survey shows evidence of informants’ mechanisms to associate colors to varieties of foods that don’t have color/flavor relationship. In the absence of similarity between packaging and food colors, symbolic connections prevailed rather than arbitrary, referring to the importance of cultural context in codes interpretation. Iconic connections were also present in associations, seeking similarity between the chosen colors with something concrete associated with the product. It was observed that the color brightness also works as significant, in addition to the hue.

This paper investigates the use of colors as visual indicators on food packaging. To this end, reports a study on milk packaging consisting in the observation, record and analysis of the material; and presents the results of a questionnaire survey that was carried out with university students to identify users'' associations between colors and varieties of milk and their associative rules. The analysis shows that the distinction between types of milk found was due essentially to packaging colors, used as codes of differentiation, but the coding variations adopted by different manufacturers compromise the efficiency of the system. The survey shows evidence of informants’ mechanisms to associate colors to varieties of foods that don’t have color/flavor relationship. In the absence of similarity between packaging and food colors, symbolic connections prevailed rather than arbitrary, referring to the importance of cultural context in codes interpretation. Iconic connections were also present in associations, seeking similarity between the chosen colors with something concrete associated with the product. It was observed that the color brightness also works as significant, in addition to the hue.

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DOI: 10.5151/designpro-CIDI-2

Referências bibliográficas

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Como citar:

Pereira, Carla; Rocha, Magaly; "Colors as visual indicators of food nutritional characteristics in milk packaging", p-8-27. In: In Coutinho, Solange G.; Moura, Monica; Campello, Silvio Barreto; Cadena, Renata A.; Almeida, Swanne (orgs.). Proceedings of the 6th Information Design International Conference, 5th InfoDesign, 6th CONGIC [= Blucher Design Proceedings, num.2, vol.1]. São Paulo: Blucher, 2014.
ISSN 23186968, DOI 10.5151/designpro-CIDI-2