Creating a smarter food label
November 9, 2011 | Length: 00:02:05
Graphic designer Renee Walker says current food labels can be confusing and should instead focus on ingredients. She shows SmartPlanet how she created a new design based on blocks of color.
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Disagree
In
Food labeling based on (sic) majority of food
Counterproductive, I expect.
The fading of a hue having a meaning: this would be lost on Joe/Jane Public and borders on an absurd proposition.
Last and not least: some people are color blind!
Disagree
Red meant fruit NOT an apple. Colorblind? No problem, her system still includes all the elements of the current system. Are we to dumb down everything for Joe/Jane Public. I they'll learn as their kids learn.
Good in theory, but not all things have been considered...
Legislators
Food labeling based on (sic) majority of food
Transcript
Background noise Renee Walker: My name is Renee Walker, I am a graphic designer and I have a concept for a smarter food label.
Music Renee Walker: What we're doing right with the food label is giving people too much complicated information.
Music Renee Walker: I thought I could create a new system for food labels that would be more visual and more graphic.
Music Renee Walker: The ingredient portion is the main portion of the label, and it's designed as a tree map. The big blocks indicate that ingredient makes up the majority of the food. The smaller blocks are in order of how they appear after in the ingredients lists.
Music Renee Walker: The color shows you the type of food that you're eating. So, for instance, is a color is green then it's a plant. If the color is red, it's a fruit. The bright colors indicate that the food is real, it's full of nutrients, it's full of vitamins, it's raw and not processed. If the color is gray or has no color, then it is a man made ingredient. The rest of the label shows the portion amount, the number of ingredients, calorie information, and then alphanumeric information that is relevant to the food products.
Music Renee Walker: I think that if we focus on ingredients instead of fats and calories and cholesterol, we can eat healthier because we will be eating more real food and less products that are not good for us.
Music



