Submitted by: Cindi Hiers
Unit: Product Design, adapted from an animation created by Luc Desdoigts of France
Lesson:  Container Design
Grade Level: High School

This lesson was inspired by Luc Desdoigts who did an Soda Can animation for New Year's Day 2004. A student of his did a lesson with his high school students. I directed my students to observe all packaged products. I had several on display in the classroom. We had discussions about line, color, subject, and how each element could be displayed on a container to catch the consumers eye. Student were told to focus on what their idea of the American Dream was.  Concepts discussed were money, love, happiness, employment, and environment. Once the student decided on their American Dream they were instructed to give it a title make it a product. When the students had gotten that far they were told to design a container and a flier to sell their product, as if it were in a super market and advertised in the newspaper. Students had to include an image of themselves, ingredients which depicted themselves, and a logo on both the container and the flier. The students were to use colored pencil, however any medium provided it was effective was allowed. Craftsmanship was mandatory. Graphic design students photographed the images, animated the images, and saved everything to disc. Critiques followed when all students were finished.

          
Click on the images for full size images. - Cruel Shoes Flyer  Cruel Shoes Box and product

Artists: James Rosenquist, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, James Lawrence (Our local commercial artist), newspaper, and graphic design studio

Products: Quaker, General Mills, Dollar General, Clorox, OfficeMax, and many others brought in from everyday use.

See "Cruel Shoes"

Describe: what materials were used

Interpret: how you used each material for your product, package, and flier

Analyze: your American Dream and how this product reflects it. What audience did you appeal to? Where should it be distributed?

Judge: open discussion in the classroom about the product presentation.