The meaning of colors in food packaging: A study of industrialized products sold in Brazil. Issue 3 (3rd March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pereira, Carla
• Is Part Of: Color research & application. Volume 46:Issue 3(2021)
• Page Start: 566
• Page End: 574
• Publication Date: 2021-03-03
• Subjects: color meaning -- visual communication -- food packaging -- Brazil -- semiotics; Color -- Periodicals; 535
• DOI: 10.1002/col.22651
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0361-2317

Abstract

Abstract: Currently, packaging needs to communicate material and immaterial qualities of food, linked to the satisfaction of nutritional, psychological and cultural needs of consumers. For this, the design builds complex discourses, associating verbal and visual language. In Brazil, with the standardization of packaging formats and the growing variety of products, the importance of color in visual communication has expanded. This research aims to explain the system of color meanings in food packaging sold in Brazil, and demonstrate that the color of designs reflects ideological and cultural concepts of contemporary society. An empirical study was conducted, with a qualitative approach, in which the colors of 612 food packages were analyzed. The analysis tools come from semiology/semiotics. The results show that colors played three semiotic functions: (1) showing the color of the food (iconic function), (2) signaling objective characteristics of the products (indicative function), and (3) representing psychological and cultural qualities (symbolic function). It was found that the system of color meanings in the food packaging is organized based on color attributes (hue, lightness and chroma), through differences and oppositions. It is concluded that, in Brazil, the colors of food packaging reflect the heterogeneity of the consumption groups—such as white for the "healthy" people, black for the "refined", pink for "women", green for the "ecological"—and, in this sense, they work as identity markers.