The Apprentice logo challenge - s18 ep6
11th March 2024
posted 11th March 2024
Another week, another treat! We tuned in to The Apprentice episode 6 on Thursday night and we were in luck. It's another branding task, so we assembled our design team to do what they do best!
In this blog, we'll look at the logos from The Apprentice Series 18, episode 6. We'll analyse both the team's logos and cereal box designs. Our designers will then be taking on the challenge of redesigning them. We understand that designing under pressure on a short time scale isn't easy. So, we've set ourselves a similar time frame.
The Task
This week's challenge was all about kids' cereal and augmented reality (AR). Both teams had to create and brand a cereal for children aged 6-8 years old. Each cereal box had to include a QR code that would link to an AR game. For the games, they needed to create a mascot that would also appear on the cereal box. Once created, they then had to pitch the cereal and AR game to large retailers and secure sales. The team with the most sales won.
Logo 1 - Team Nexus
In this week's task, team Nexus chose a superhero theme for their cereal and game. Some of the team members weren't fully on board with the idea initially. Team member Rachel Woolford voiced her concerns and suggested that the theme had been overused in the cereal industry. Despite the dispute, the team settled on the theme and came up with the product name 'Power Hoops'.
When creating the branding, the team had a clear vision. This helped them create a cohesive design and product, leading them to win the task. For the cereal itself, they chose hoops (linking the name) that were raspberry flavoured, with milk chocolate chunks and dried apple. For the mascot, they created 'Megabella', a superhero with the power to control adults.
In the AR game, you needed to collect the gems, to charge/gain superhero power. The game was their biggest let-down in the task as there was no variety, it was simply about collecting gems. This meant that the game was a little basic and boring, a point that was emphasised in the feedback in the boardroom. Lord Alan Sugar commented 'It's not a bad idea I suppose, whether the kid would get bored with it after a while? The first day it might be a bit of a novelty, but the second day, it's like done that'.
For the logo design, the team chose a red sans serif font with added detail to the 'O's. The 'O's are little pink cereal pieces. On the box, they then paired the logo with an orange, pink and red colour scheme. For the mascot, they chose a female superhero dressed in pink and orange.
Image: Team Nexus's logo and cereal box design.
Text: Focusing on the text, the team chose a sans-serif font that didn't quite fit the brand. Sans serif fonts give connotations of freshness and cleanliness. They can also quite ridged in appearance. By choosing something so plain, it's left the design looking bland and boring. This gives the consumer the impression that the cereal is bland and stale. This style of font is more suited to cleaning or medical products. A decorative style font would have been a better choice for cereal boxes. They can help add personality and make the box stand out on the crowded shelves. Kids' products tend to be bold and fun.
Colour: For the colour, the team chose orange, red and pink. When looking at the theme of the cereal and AR choices, the colour scheme they have chosen is good. Orange gives connotations of high energy, confidence, and happiness - all characteristics of a superhero. It gives you the impression that if you eat this cereal, you too can gain the power to be a superhero. The colour orange can also induce hunger, making it perfect for cereal. Red is also another high-energy colour, giving connotations of power and strength. Both positives are associated with food and the superhero theme. The addition of the pink adds a feminine and sweet touch to the design. It gives connotes to the raspberry flavour of the cereal, as well as associations with the female superhero. Overall, the colour choices were good. However, they could have been stronger tones with higher energy.
Icon: The team chose to add the icons within the design of the text. Adding cereal pieces as the 'O's was a nice touch to the design. It shows the consumer exactly what it is, a cereal brand. It also adds some fun to the design itself. However, paired with the sans-serif font tones this down. It doesn't add enough playfulness to the overall design.
Tagline: The team opted for the tagline of 'Fuel your power'. This is quite a good tagline. It's short and to the point. It explains the AR game as well as how you would feel eating their cereal. Continuing the theme of not getting things quite right, the colour of the tagline lets it down. The pink is hard to see on top of the orange colour, so it does get lost within the design.
Overall, the team's logo and box design could have been better. For The Apprentice level design, they are certainly improving week by week. They were consistent with their messaging which is a positive. They made some good choices, and it had potential. As always, it could have been executed better. The choice of font let the whole design down. If the colours were a brighter tone, it would have added more energy and fun to the design which it desperately needed.
Webfactory's take on Logo 1
Image: Logo design
Image: Cereal Box
For Webfactory's quick take on Team Nexus's logo and packaging, we wanted to emphasise the superhero theme. Bold, bright colours and a friendly hero mascot have been used to attract and appeal to the target audience of children aged 6 to 8. The box also features a large image of a cereal bowl to clearly show the contents.
Superheroes are well-known for wearing colourful costumes. These are often in primary colours such as red, blue, and yellow. Each colour represents character traits such as strength, safety, and trust (think Superman, Spider-Man, and Wonder Woman). These colours were used for the logo and packaging, reinforcing the superhero theme. Combined, they create an eye-catching and exciting design to help the product stand out on shelves.
For the text, we used a large, rounded font, with thick outlines and a drop shadow. Resulting in a bold but friendly logo reminiscent of comic book text. The use of uppercase text reinforces the feeling of 'strength' and 'power', much like a superhero! A 'lightning bolt' icon has been used within the word 'Power' to represent the energy/power gained by eating the cereal.
For the box, we've used 'explosive' shapes to create a sense of dynamism and excitement. Smaller 'bolt' icons and shapes surround the cereal bowl, further emphasising the concept of 'fuel' and energy.
Logo 2 - Team Supereem
In this week's task, team Supereem decided to theme their cereal around the Arctic. With a joint focus on creating a healthy cereal that both parents and children would love. Like Team Nexus, the idea initially got a frosty reception. Particularly from those who favoured a space theme over the Artic. They were also concerned with the healthy aspect of the cereal and how this could be tied together. Team member Flow Edwards mentioned that she was 'slightly nervous that as we've gone for both healthy and artic it might be a little bit bland in terms of colour and selling opportunities.'. Nevertheless, project leader Sam Saadet took onboard the concern and then chose to completely ignore them! This was a mistake on team Supereem's part and ultimately cost them the task. A space theme would have offered a vivid colour palette. Enhancing the brand's appeal to the target market of 6-8-year-olds. It would have also given greater scope for creativity when it came to the look and taste of the cereals. It could have allowed the AR app to include educational elements, something the parents might have liked.
When creating the branding, the team were a little disjointed. They branded the cereal 'Polar Crunch'. A good choice of name as the 'Crunch' does evoke connotations of eating cereal as well as the sound of walking through snow. For the cereal itself, they chose passionfruit-flavoured boulders with dried banana slices. All flavours are not associated with the Artic. When creating the mascot, they opted for a Polar Bear Prince. Despite having dislocated paws that pointed the wrong way... this seemed to be the least of their worries. They were concerned that the type of character could be seen as too juvenile for their intended audience. In the AR game, the Polar Bear Prince would teach the children new, fun dance moves.
As for the logo, the team opted for a wordmark (or logotype) design, focusing solely on text without any accompanying icon or graphic.
Image: Team Supereem's logo and cereal box design.
Text: For the text, the team chose a hand-drawn font, opting to use two different styles for each word. The word 'Polar' was written in a thick, bold font. The style looked like it had been drawn in the snow, fitting in with the overall theme. The word 'Crunch' was also in a hand-drawn font but failed to hit the mark. The jagged lines look like the text has been electrocuted, rather than crunched. Hand-drawn fonts can be fun for children's products, but in this instance didn't work so well. Featured on the cereal box is the tagline 'The coolest way to start your day'. Puns work well for this target market. However, using the phrase 'start your day' suggests that this is a breakfast cereal for the mornings only. Rather than for all times of the day, like for supper or a snack.
Colour: For the colours the team decided to use a black wordmark on a pale blue background. They then used white for the polar bear and the snow details on the top of the box. Blue and white both give connotations of a cold and frosty climate. Although the choice of white/blue does fit with the artic theme, the colours are very meek. This wouldn't stand out on a shelf among other cereals in the supermarket. The use of black for the logo text isn't a good option. Although it's a strong contrast with the blue, the Arctic is associated with brightness and purity - the opposite of black. The colour doesn't attract the attention of a younger audience (unless they are Wednesday Adams). A shade of grey or a darker blue might have been a better option.
Box: For the box design team have used a polar bear positioned next to a passionfruit and dried banana chunk. This clearly showed the flavours of the cereal. However, as was mentioned in the show, there is a large disconnect between the tropical flavours chosen and the Arctic. This was overlooked by the team. The team also ran out of time and didn't get the chance to include a cereal bowl on the packaging. As a new product, this was a fundamental mistake, as it meant you couldn't tell what the product was immediately.
In conclusion, the team's brand fails to capture the attention of its target market. By choosing the Artic theme, the team gave themselves a restricted colour palate. This resulted in a design that would struggle to stand out on shelves. Their mascot and game were also a little immature for the target market. One child stated that he thought it was 'for a smaller brother or sister'. The tropical flavours were disjointed and didn't align with the overall theme of the product. The team could have been far more playful with the cereal. The milk in a cereal bowl would have provided the perfect snowy setting. They could have included elements such as icebergs, penguins, polar bears, or seals floating in the milk
Webfactory's take on Logo 2
Image: Logo design
Image: Cereal box design.
For Webfactory's quick take on Team Supereem's logo, we focused on making the Arctic theme bolder. For the logo itself, we used shades of blue paired with a cracked Icey font. This suits the younger target audience but also could appeal to adults if they like this type of cereal. We kept the polar bear mascot but gave it a more modern design.
The box colour scheme is composed of blues and whites. Both have a strong association with the cold. We chose contrasting shades of blue with pops of white to make it stand out more on the shelves. We added snowflakes and a snowy scene to the backdrop of the box, creating texture.
We created a slogan for the cereal which is 'nicely icy'. This works with the frosted cereal and adds the coldness of the Arctic theme. We swapped up the flavours to blueberries and frosted cereal. Although blueberries are not an Arctic fruit, the colour matches the icy theme, helping it tie in. Having fruit within the cereal adds nutrition to the cereal.
Learn more
If you are interested in logo design, you can learn more about how to create the perfect logo for your business in our article here.