Date Label and Storage Advice Design System and Toolkit: Commercialisation Pitch

BackgroundThis work explores communication design practice—specifically visual semiotics and design systems—applied to food packaging and consumer behaviour. It engages with a scholarly debate within packaging design research about how visual communication influences everyday decisions, especially regarding food waste. The National Date Labelling and Storage Advice project highlights the knowledge gap regarding label confusion and food disposal behaviours, and promotes standardised visual systems to address complex public issues through systemic design. The narrow field focuses on visual design interventions in sustainability contexts, drawing on work by sustainability-oriented design practitioners and food systems researchers. The creative project responds to a well-documented problem: confusing date labels lead Australian households to discard edible food, contributing to 40% of the country's food waste and resulting in an annual economic loss of $36.6 billion.Contribution Date Labelling and Storage Advice Design System and Toolkit is a comprehensive design system comprising icons, typography, colour, and templates that standardise visual communication of food freshness, safety, and storage. As a designer and researcher, I developed this toolkit through evidence-based inquiry into consumer understanding of packaging information. The research component embedded in this creative work involves visual semiotics analysis and systems design methodology. The toolkit manifests new knowledge by translating research findings into practical design artefacts that support intuitive consumer decision-making. It contributes by connecting food systems knowledge with communication design practice, creating a replicable, scalable solution suitable for manufacturers, retailers, not-for-profits, and regulatory bodies.Significance This work demonstrates importance through validation across multiple sectors and institutional backing. Funding includes the Australian Government's Cooperative Research Centre Program via End Food Waste Australia, along with state-level support (Queensland Recycling and Jobs Fund, Green Industries SA, NSW EPA, Sustainability Victoria). The project is part of PhD research at RMIT University under the supervision of Prof Linda Brennan, Prof Robert Crawford, and Prof Simon Lockrey. Commercial viability across six stakeholder sectors (manufacturers, retailers, NFPs, government, education, and consumers) demonstrates peer recognition of its practical value. The phased commercialisation plan shows dedication to thorough testing and validation before wider implementation, positioning this work to influence national food labelling standards.

研究背景
本研究探索应用于食品包装（food packaging）与消费者行为（consumer behaviour）的传播设计实践，具体涵盖视觉符号学（visual semiotics）与设计系统（design system）方向。本研究参与包装设计研究领域内的学术研讨，探讨视觉传播如何影响日常决策，尤其聚焦食物浪费相关议题。国家日期标注与存储建议项目（National Date Labelling and Storage Advice project）指出了公众在标识认知困惑与食物丢弃行为方面存在的认知缺口，并倡导通过标准化视觉系统，依托系统设计（systemic design）解决复杂公共议题。本研究的聚焦领域为可持续发展场景（sustainability contexts）下的视觉设计干预，借鉴了可持续设计从业者（sustainability-oriented design practitioners）与食品系统研究者（food systems researchers）的相关研究成果。本创意创作项目针对一项有据可依的现实问题：混乱的日期标识导致澳大利亚家庭丢弃可食用食物，该现象占该国食物浪费总量的40%，并造成每年366亿澳元的经济损失。

研究贡献
日期标注与存储建议设计系统及工具包（Date Labelling and Storage Advice Design System and Toolkit）是一套涵盖图标、字体排印、色彩与模板的综合设计系统，可标准化食品新鲜度、安全性与存储相关的视觉传播内容。作为设计师与研究者，笔者通过针对消费者对包装信息认知情况的实证调研开发了本工具包。本创意创作项目中的研究环节包含视觉符号学分析与系统设计方法论。该工具包将研究发现转化为可支持消费者直观决策的实用设计制品（design artefacts），从而形成了全新的知识体系。其核心贡献在于将食品系统知识与传播设计实践相结合，打造了一套可复制、可扩展的解决方案，适用于制造商、零售商、非营利组织与监管机构。

研究意义
本研究的重要性体现在多领域验证与机构支持层面。研究资金来自澳大利亚政府合作研究中心项目（Australian Government's Cooperative Research Centre Program）下属的澳大利亚终结食物浪费（End Food Waste Australia）项目，同时获得州级支持，包括昆士兰回收与就业基金、南澳绿色产业基金、新南威尔士州环境与保护局、维多利亚可持续发展署。本项目为皇家墨尔本理工大学（RMIT University）的博士研究课题，由琳达·布伦南教授、罗伯特·克劳福德教授与西蒙·洛克雷教授担任指导。该方案在六大利益相关方领域（stakeholder sectors），即制造商、零售商、非营利组织、政府、教育机构与消费者，具备商业可行性，这体现了同行对其实用价值的认可。分阶段商业化计划体现了在大规模推广前进行充分测试与验证的严谨态度，本研究有望推动国家食品标注标准的完善与革新。