Local Packaging

While being introduced to the city markets, and the various marine product processors, I was able to gain a reasonable understanding of what is the norm for local product packaging. As mentioned before, the products at the market were housed in generic plastic, while the organized Citra Mina Fish Stores, have a more professional set of packages. The situation for most of the smaller processors and vendors, is a lack of time or understanding of how to dress their products. This is exacerbated by the kind of uneducated home computer capabilites that we see even in Canada, and a local printing industry, that like most copy shops where we come from, use the understanding of Photoshop in the place of good design.

In terms of cost, most small producers, live more or less hand to mouth, and do not have the capital to invest in expensive packaging and professional design services. So, like the woman who colours her photocopied labels with crayons, they do the best they know how with the time and knowledge they have. The printing shops don't help. Akin to copy shops or those trophy and engraving places we are used to, the local printers have a set of generic computer fonts, which they ask the producer to choose between. Without any understanding of hierarchy or history, it is extremely common for these individuals to choose curly, ornate, or bulbous character fonts, that make their labels work against them. The only place that this kind of wildly ornate type seems to add character rather than blending in, is on the handpainted store signs of the sort seen at the souvenir shops. While some are clearly better than others, there is a certain cheesy vernacular that acts as a sort of big welcoming grin, rather than the Jackson Pollock effect seen in Manila, where the intent to express, blends everything together into a whirlwind of visual pollution.

The Liberty Fisherman's Co-op that we visited on our second outing, had their labels designed in Manila by the Design Center of the Philippins, and although they were not awe inspiring, they were clear. The only thing they really did lack was consistency, as their brand of Puerto Bay, had several different logos, and each label had a different layout with different colours. They have been in business for 20 years and are reasonably organized. I especially liked the bulk plastic bags they used for frozen seafood which was patterned with a grid of vector marine animals, in blue, on the outside. With a brief overhaul, this could end up being very professional. My time here, however is meant to help those, who need help from the ground up. I am seeing a need to focus my attention on the smaller, independent producer in order to come up with some kind of economical system for teaching them about how to imbue the face of their products with added value. A clean but unique visual character will make these products stand out at the market, and enrich the experience they give with a personality that will anchor it to this place. (see more photos)