Chocolate Packaging Activity

While I am no longer in the classroom, (I am full time at the IB now), I do still get random inspiration and excitement about different ideas for lesson activities or units. The following idea comes directly from my online Christmas shopping, as I am scrambling to buy some last minute gifts for family and friends!
I have done packaging design for students as a full unit, where they focus on packaging that shows their products are healthy, ethical and tasty, but for this activity, I would just have students design FUN or BEAUTIFUL packaging. This could be a chance for students to bring in their skills as an artist, (I do a lot of digital design, using Adobe Illustrator, so this would be ideal!)

Statement of Inquiry: The products we buy can send signals about who we are.

Key concept: Communication
“Communication is the exchange or transfer of signals, facts, ideas and symbols. It requires a sender, a message and an intended receiver. Communication involves the activity of conveying information or meaning. Effective communication requires a common “language” (which may be written, spoken or nonverbal)." - There's also a design specific definition, but the general definition is perfect.

Related concept: Markets and trends
Markets can be considered as sectors and segments comprised of groups of individuals with similar needs. Trends involve short- and long-term patterns of consumer behaviour.

Global context: Identities and relationships - Identity formation.
Who am I? Who are we? Students will explore identity; beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities and cultures; what it means to be human.

Brief: You have design packaging for chocolate that makes people want to buy it as a gift. This means the packaging should increase the value or the chocolate, so that buyers would pay more for the item.
Students should consider what sort of messages the chocolate buyer wants to send about themselves an dwhat they think about the person they are buying the chocolate for. Are they classy? fun? an art lover? sophisticated? 
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Inspiration: 
Le Chocolat des Francais, a chocolate company started by art-school graduates.
Maison Boissier, a french chocolate and candy shop, opened in 1827.
There are of course lots of other companies that can be used as inspiration - I am just sharing these two as these are the ones I have been eyeing up for Christmas gifts, and the ones that make me think of doing this activity!

Possible activities:

• Show students different chocolate bars - from cheap to expensive. Who do they think buys them? why? Are they for special occasions or everyday consumption? What might you guess about the person who buys them? what do you thnk the quality of the chocolate might be?
• Price guess - get students to guess the prices of different chocolate bars. A good way to do this would be to give them manipulatives and ask them to put them in order from cheapest to most expensive
• Chocolate tasting. Give students a few square of chocolate to taste, without showing the packaging. Can they still guess the cheapest to the most expensive? Does it align with what they thought when they saw the packaing?
• Secret Santa - give students the name of one of their classmates secretly. They have to pick out a chocolate they wold gift that studnet and justify their answers. This can be done with a selection of chocolates you have available, or students can do some research online to find the perfect chocolate.
• Different clients - Give students (either individuals or groups) a different client, for example, a young adult, buying chocolate for their best friend, or an older person buying chocolate for their grandchild. Have students create their rough designs, then show them to the class. They can either do this talking about the client, OR they can have the other students guess who they were designing for.
  
  If you are time-short, you could even just do this a one-off lesson, with some chocolate tasting, where students never even get to the activities where they start designing packaging - I think it could be just as intersting and fun for them to discuss existing chocolate bar designs. Equally, this could kick off a much longer unit on packaging design.
  
  I hope this gave some inspiration to readers. You can't buy me chocolate, but feel free to buy me a coffee! Let me know what activities you like to do before the winter vacation! Happy holidays everyone!