The results showed that the whole issue of improving visual pack information for older consumers is much more complex than simply adhering to guidelines on legibility. The user group tests revealed that only an alignment of information design with brand strategy would win consumer trust - there was a point at which honestly conveyed information became unappealing.

The study showed that packaging contains two 'voices': a dominant branded sales voice which shouts from the front of the pack (the marketing information) and a marginalised consumer rights voice which is shunted off to the side and back of the pack (the mandatory information). Better solutions therefore depend on engaging in a moral argument about degrees of honesty and persuasion in pack design. The central conflict between advertising imagery and 'truthful' information in how we 'read' packs must be addressed.

Colours, images and words are all used to direct the way we perceive products. What makes them into information? And when are they simply advertising?