LaBrake Hosts Annual Cereal Party Following Packaging Design Project

“The cereal party has been a Graphic Design class tradition for the past four years,” noted Tappan Zee High School Art teacher Leigh LaBrake last Friday. “It’s a culminating celebration for our packaging design project, which challenges students to put what they’ve learned all year about font styles, color palettes, size, scale and composition to work. Using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or Canva, they have to design a branded cereal box, complete with company logo, cereal name, an image of the cereal, mascot or character and slogan–as well as a back-of-the-box activity and nutrition panel. The product can be original or a variation on an existing cereal on the market.”

“You have creative freedom,” Katerina said. “I wanted to make a variation of something that already existed, but with a Halloween theme.” A vampire is the mascot for her “horrifically delicious” Unlucky Trinkets cereal.

Sebastian created an Xbox themed cereal, X & Os, which he imagined would have a honey-nut flavor. The design on the back of the box features a unique scratch-off panel with a code for a game purchase discount. 

Personal interests provided inspiration for students like Haley, who also invented a new product: Cosmic Crisps. “This project was very fun. I went with a space concept because it's something I really like–I love drawing aliens and things like that.”

“I liked making my own design and then seeing it as a physical product,” reported Nathaniel, inventor of Sumorez–a s’mores flavored cereal with a flaming marshmallow mascot. 

For the cereal party, LaBrake polled students for their cereal and milk preferences and set up each project with a blank sheet for peer reviews. “The cereal party helps bring the project to life. Students often get nervous presenting their work, so being able to eat a snack while providing feedback makes the process easier,” she said. “And people tend to be more honest about feedback this way.”