This section documents the development of my personal project. “Average Joe” including research, ideation, and creative exploration. My goal was to create a brand identity for an oat milk company that feels approachable and relatable, positioning plant-based milk as an everyday choice rather than a niche product. Throughout this process, I explored audience perceptions of plant-based alternatives, did word associations and naming brainstorms, and developed mood boards to define the brand’s tone and personality. Each stage of this development helped refine my concept and ensured that the final outcome aligns with my aims of creating a grounded, inclusive, and human-centred brand.
Early exploration.
Figma Exploration using Pinterest images.
This board explores the visual language and cultural associations surrounding milk and milk-based drinks. By collecting imagery from traditional dairy packaging, adverts and supermarkets I aimed to gain an understanding on how milk has historically been represented as comforting, familiar, and family oriented. Something that has been removed from oat milk branding.
Milk has become such an ingratiated part everyday habit for so many people that they wouldnt even consider changing from dairy, and this is largely to do with how it has been marketed over the years.
peers in class felt where connected to assumptions around plant based products.
Understanding the contrast between public perception helps me identify which visual cues evoke nostalgia and trust, and what qualities I want to reintroduce into my plant Milk, help making it feel approachable and relatable to the general public. A brand that feels honest and down-to-earth.
Naming Process
I wanted a name that represented everyday familiarity and inclusivity. “Average Joe” reflects the idea that plant-based milk can be for anyone, The ‘Average’ person, not just specific lifestyles or income groups.
Audience Research.
Next I wanted to do some research on my Idea that if plant Milk was placed closer to normal milk in supermarkets, and carried the same asthetics would people be more likely to try it? I asked a variation of people who already consume plant milk, and people who don’t. Also some people who live in households where both is purchased.
To Summarise my findings Most consumers said they’d be more likely to buy oat milk if it were placed next to traditional dairy and presented with familiar, straightforward packaging. The research highlights that barriers to trial are rooted in visibility, familiarity, and social perception – not as actual issue with oat milk as a product. These insights directly informed my goal for Average Joe’s, and reassured me that I was approaching from the correct angle, a product and made for everyone. That will attract this exact audience of people.
Early design drafts.
At this stage, my design drafts are small pen sketches that capture my initial ideas for the brand’s look and feel. These early drawings act as a starting point to explore composition, logo concepts, and packaging layout in a quick way. I plan to develop these sketches further on paper and then digitally, refining the ideas that best communicate the approachable and familiar tone behind Average Joe’s.
This project explores how design can make plant-based milk feel familiar and inclusive. Through mind maps, word associations, and consumer feedback, I found that simplicity, placement, and familiarity strongly influence how people choose milk. Average Joe’s brings these insights together to challenge elitist plant-based branding and present oat milk as a natural, everyday choice for everyone.