5.11 Create a Cereal Box - Part Two

Learning Targets

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to say YES to the following questions.

• Can you understand how the elements persuasive writing are used to create everyday products we use?
• Can you create your own persuasive images and text that target a specific audience?
• Can you use language in creative and playful ways to develop style?

Images

Create an image to go on your box. Mascots are often popular. Think of a tiger, toucan, or a ship captain you might have seen on a box of cereal. Your image needs to relate to the fiction book you are basing your box on.

The imagery on your box should reflect the book you chose, be it the character, objects, or background imagery.

You also need to feature an image of the cereal itself.

Add extra images to add to the theme of your box. If you look at this image, the background has a honeycomb pattern and there are bees near the cereal name to attract your attention.

Colour

You need to decide what colour you are going to make your lettering, images, and box background. Watch this video to see how different colours influence people. Did you know that blue and pink are known to make people feel more relaxed and calm? Red and orange are known to be more stimulating -- with orange being one of the most popular cereal box colours.

Writing on the Box

Writing on the Box

On the box, you will have images - one of your mascot/character/thing/place and one of your cereal. You also need some appealing text.

1. Cereal Name

You need to come up with a name for your cereal that relates to your book. It can relate to a character, setting, plot, etc.

 When you make up the name, here are some tips:

1. Make it descriptive; you could use alliteration.

E.g. If it is made of oats and you want it to sound good: "Optimal Oats"

2. Use real words with a twist by adding a prefix or suffix

E.g. If it is made of oats, call it Oaties.

3. Use an adjective or verb.

E.g. Crunch - Crunchies

Do not make the name longer than three words. The words should relate to what the cereal is like - what it looks like or tastes like - and to the book you are basing your theme on.

2. Cereal Description: You have creative freedom to "think outside the box" for your cereal. Your cereal can have special properties or ingredients that do not exist in the real world. The ingredients need to be attractive to your target audience and they need to relate to the book you chose. Can you imagine what the students at Harry Potter's school would look for in a cereal? Or the beasts in a Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson, etc.) novel?

You need a brief description of your product on the box.

E.g. Sweet crunchy oat flakes with a touch of peanut butter and jam

3. Prize: You need to have some sort of prize that would encourage your target audience to buy the cereal...and relate to the book.

E.g. Inside, find a free toy car!

4. Ingredients

Highlight some of the key ingredients that would attract your audience.

E.g. Made with real peanuts, strawberries, and whole grain oats

More Writing on the Box

5. Slogan

You need a slogan for your product on the box. Your slogan needs to relate to your cereal and your book theme.

E.g. "Brings out the Tiger in you, in you!" "Kid tested. Mother approved." "Follow my nose. It always knows." "I c-c-crazy for Co-co Puffs."

6. Logo

You need to create a symbol and a name for your company.

Make it memorable and eye-catching.

Tip: Choose fonts that are easy to read. Make sure that there is good contrast between the background color and text color, so it is easily read.

Thumbnail Sketches & Rough Draft

To help you brainstorm ideas, you can do thumbnail sketches.

These are done by artists in the real world as part of a product design process.

They are small quick drawings where you can try different image and text combos. See the image on the left for an example.

Once you have done that, you can decide which layout you like best and then do a rough sketch with more details.

In your Learning Guide, complete Thumbnail Sketches and your Cereal Box Rough Design.

How You Make Your Box

You have creative freedom for what art material you use to create your box. It is easiest if follow this process:

1. Get an actual cereal box
2. Cut paper to the sizes to cover it
3. Put your designs on your paper
4. Attach the paper.

You can use images and lettering you create from the computer or create them by hand. Do not use actual image from other cereal boxes.

Remember on the front of your box you need:

• The NAME of the cereal: should have the largest text
• The SLOGAN: captures the essence of the cereal box
• The BRIEF DESCRIPTION:  ex.) Sweet crunchy oat flakes with a touch of peanut butter and jam
• The SPECIAL OFFER: ex.) Inside find a free toy car!
• The IMAGES: should include your character and your cereal
• The LOGO: should be small, but memorable

Place the lettering and images together so it makes an attractive design for your target audience.

Marking Rubric

You will be marked using the following rubric.

Cereal Box Submission

You can bring your cereal box in or you can take photos of it to give to your teacher. Make sure they are close enough and clear enough so your teacher can read everything on the box.

Submit your images to your 5.11 Create a Cereal Box drop box.