Graphics Retail Project: McDonalds Happy Meal Packaging

McDonald's Happy Meal Packaging

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Although, I am not doing a fast-food store or shop that sells food, I thought the 'Happy Meal' box is a very effective example of packaging. The 'Happy Meal' box which is used in fast-food restaurant chain McDonald's, is for the children's meal they serve at the restaurant. The 'Happy Meal' started in 1979, specifically targeted at a children market, thus the food size is smaller the packaging is usually bright and very colourful as it is targeted at young children who would eat the meal.

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The McDonald's 'Happy Meal' package also often have cut out pieces in them, which gives the buyers something to play with and amuse themselves, (see above images). The handle of the box is a yellow letter 'M' relating to the logo of the restaurant. Making a clear relationship between the packaging and the company. I think ensuring the packaging is recognisable as part of a certain company is important so people can recognise the brand.

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Often the surface design of the McDonald's 'Happy Meal' is of cartoons characters, characters from films, books or fun animated characters created by the McDonald's company. Children are able to play games on the box and enjoy being able to colour a picture, complete a maze or just solve a few puzzles. I like that the packaging is able to be as fun as the product inside it, and that is why I believe this is an effective piece of packaging.

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Children are able to cut out tokens and characters to keep. I think it is a good idea to make the packaging fun, as it represents the product as quite enjoyable. The McDonald's 'Happy Meal' offers a meal, a plastic toy figure, but also a shaped box to entertain someone whilst they consume the contents of the box. Overall it allows the child to have an exciting fast-food experience, and also be able to see what they have completed at the end of the meal.

After seeing the McDonald's boxes I think I will trail with creating my own box with a fun surface design.

Image Sources: 1. McDonald's official website
2. http://chrishowkerillustration.blogspot.com
3-4. http://www.eurosouvenirland.com
5. http://www.thestrong.org
6. http://www.eurosouvenirland.com

Graphics Retail Project: Mascots for Retailers - Ronald McDonald

Mascots for Retailers

Ronald McDonald

Ronald McDonald is the mascot or character for the global fast-food restaurant chain McDonald's. In America 1967 Ronald McDonald was created and became a trademark of McDonald's. Ronald McDonald's appears in many of the fast-food chain's television commercials, and very distinctive.

Ronald McDonald is a clown character targeted at children who eat at the restaurant. Above are some images by the McDonald's co-operation. The images show the old and the new Ronald McDonald's and show how the character has changed over time. The character is fun and often in television advertisements he goes on adventures, which captures the imagination of the children. The clown style outfit given to the character makes the character more rememberable. Dressed in the McDonald's distinctive colours; red and white, Ronald McDonald wears a red and white stripy top, yellow overalls, a big red wig and clown painted face, which makes the character stand out. Using colours which are associated with the company, in this case red and yellow, is very good for the public so they can associate the character with the brand.

Ronald McDonald looks fun and happy, which targets the young audience. I think this character really works well with the brand, as even when Ronald McDonald is not near a McDonald's shop or logo, people are able to link the relationship between Ronald McDonald and the McDonald's restaurants. The use of the McDonald's logo on Ronald McDonald's outfit is also very useful, for the public so they are able to see what this character is.

Image source: http://chrishowkerillustration.blogspot.com/2010/12/character-reference-ronald-mcdonald.html