Simular Products, Different Companies.

To begin with I only looked at products photographed on the internet, I tried to find a section on the Starbucks and Costa coffee website on 'take-out' beverages, but had no success. Therefore my research on how other companies display their products had to be explored in a different way.


Luckily, despite previously thinking I didn't have the time or money to collect samples of simular products, I found ways around these issues such as the use of tokens. I had gathered a small collection of simular products earlier today to photograph as other examples to analyse. I purchased a mocha from Costa along with a tea from our college canteen. A friend also helped me out with a full "buy 6 get one free" McDonalds card, this enabled me to collect another sample from this suppler. Including the images I found on the internet of the Starbucks cups, I now have four examples of simular products: Costa, McDonalds, PG Tips and Starbucks.

Most of the products; like two of the Huhtamaki products, have some form of corregated card included in their design. The tea from the canteen wasn't made of this material, but it has a corregated sleeve that fits around the smooth cup. I believe this material is used not only for added grip, but also to help prevent the user from burning their hands. All of the corregated cups have miminal design added to them, which I think is good for photography because they already give a texture to create pattern. The smooth cups tipically have much more design work on them.

All of the lids had a very simular design which included a small hole to drink from and a dip behind it to catch any excess liquid. All of the lids were white, and I have never seen a black lid until today, which was included in the sample pack Huhtamaki sent for photographing. Some of the lids have 'bubbles' you can press down to indicate the content of each cup, which is useful for multiple purchases.