Research - Bear Cards

Through discussing the various concepts/ideas that we had come up individually from reading the brief, it was decided that the strongest response would be the underwater theme. This would allow us to explore a variety of responses to the brief and therefore produce a well informed, appropriate response. 

When discussing the overall theme of coral reef's and more in general, under the sea, it became apparent that a more direct focus was needed. Through looking at the current cards, there is a definite theme to the design which is continued to their website and other printed collateral. This strengthens the interaction with the cards as the 'story' is clear and engages the audience. The engagement with the cards is further reinforced through having a 'top trumps' element to the design as well as having an interactive story that that the audience can read and engage with. This interaction is an important element as Bear 'no1 kids fruit snacking brand in the UK'. However, we are told that the designs must be appropriate and appeal to 4-9 year olds but on the current cards, words such as 'abominable' and 'elusive' are used. These are words that the younger end of the target audience would struggle to understand. From identifying this, it is imperative to ensure that the text is appropriate for the skill level of the target audience. One way in which this could be tested is by addressing the target audience directly. Due to the age range of their target audience, it would be appropriate to presume that many of the these snacks are consumed at school where the children will be eating amongst friends. This further reinforces the importance of the appropriateness of the language used - children have a shorter attention span than adults and therefore would loose interest with a larger section of text.


The theme of the cards is also present on the packaging of the snack. This is displayed in a simple yet informative way through the use of a magnifying glass. This is a shape that is typically related to spies, investigating and research. Including a certain aspect to the packaging design is important as it informs the mixed audience. The audience of the packaging would typically be adults and the cards inside the packaging would typically be for the children eating the product. There is also an added incentive to purchase the products due to the collection aspect. As seen on the above packaging, if you cut out ten barcodes and send to Bear, you receive a free gift. This is something that is referred to in the Bear Creative Challenge pack - 'Any thoughts around what ‘collectable mechanic’ you’ve give to go with it.' This is an aspect to the submission that is important to consider as it shows how the concept works for more than just the required deliverables.