Mealdeal Assembly.Visual Ready Studio™
Visual Ready Studio explores how supermarket packaging uses repeated visual codes—such as colour, typography, layout and imagery—to create instant recognition. Using the Meal Deal as a metaphor, the project presents branding as a fast, pre-assembled system in which different visual ingredients can be mixed and matched. Through posters, interactive experiments, a visual code manual and a modular publication, the project questions where branding ends and imitation begins.
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Event Director                           Xiaotong Zhou


                         VisualReady

I.

This project arose from our tutor’s encouragement for us to draw on our own experiences and our identity as designers, and to develop themes freely.

The images are drawn from my past design experiences.

At this point, I have looked back on my career in design.

I have come across an issue that has always weighed heavily on my mind, which is the theme of this project—plagiarism.

China has long been labelled a ‘copycat’ country, which is likely a source of pain for most Chinese designers. China is often portrayed as a nation lacking in creativity and copyright awareness, capable only of imitating big-name brands. 

Consequently, ever since I began working as a designer, I have been plagued by a sense of ‘inferiority’, constantly scrutinising my own work and treading very carefully through each stage of the design process. Whilst this is, in itself, a positive thing, I have felt it constraining me at every turn.

It was not until I came to the UK that my perceptions were turned on their head. In convenience stores and supermarkets, I saw countless products with similar packaging—some even identical—which left me feeling bewildered.

So I visited local Middle Eastern shops, mid- to high-end supermarkets, budget supermarkets and pound shops in Edinburgh to carry out my research.

I started categorising products with similar packaging.

I also tried to gather information to work out which shop the ‘first version’ of these similar products came from.

It was quite an interesting process.

I came across lots of interesting discussions among British netizens; it turns out the British also have a bit of a grumble about these similar packaging designs…

I have discovered that these similar packaging designs largely stem from large supermarkets copying independent brands, or budget brands copying mid- to high-end brands. Designers exploit visual similarities to create the illusion that products look similar, are functionally comparable, yet are more affordable, thereby stimulating people’s desire to buy.

People will generally make a purchase or two as a result, which is a sure-fire profit for the brand initiating the imitation.

For the brand whose packaging has been copied, however, this poses a threat to its reputation, public image and the costs it has invested…

01/05/2026

This is actually a good time to get started.

I’m beginning to prepare for next week’s presentation.

I’ve tentatively set the topic as: ‘Who defines originality?  Why does plagiarism occur in both the East and the West, yet the issue is often magnified in the East?’
But I’ve started to reflect on my underlying perspective.

Should I criticise these companies’ business models from the perspective of ‘plagiarism’?
Might this be coloured by my background in design?

I’ve been pondering this question for quite some time…

04/05/2026

In the first lesson of Term 3, I received praise from my teacher.

I decided to start by investigating what makes these packaging designs look so similar.

I began taking the packaging apart…

It turns out that the similarity in the packaging stems from our basic design elements, as shown below:

Fonts
Colour schemes
Layout
Illustrations

Supermarkets do not simply imitate at random. They are borrowing a specific visual language.