Visit to Wales Centre of Alternative Technology

At CAT there was some interesting work and ideas of alternative building design that I found quite appealing, and effective for its purpose of reducing it carbon foot print on the energy needed to produce the materials used and the result of how efficiently they work.
These are good ideas themselves and maybe effective in the long run, but as said in one of the talks, even if we became efficient enough to reduce our carbon emissions to even 0 it would take about 50 years for it to take effect on the globe.
This would be very difficult to achieve with our kind of infrastructure and economy based on consumerism, it would then cripple most businesses. 

Recycling reason

This was on the back of the cereal box I used to make my prototype.

Less packaging waste ideas

These show some cleverly thought out second uses for the packaging of a product.

http://dornob.com/shipping-eco-friendly-products-in-multifunctional-packages/?ref=search
The idea here is the shirt is sent in this package and with buying more clothes you will need/want more hangers and the packaging that the shirt came in conveniently can be constructed from the direction on the packaging into a hanger.
This shows that the idea was considered about in mind of the item that was contained in the package.

The lite2go utilises the main body of the packaging as part of the product with a small recyclable strip of cardboard left over. This shows real creative and feasibility of the product become part of the packaging for some items.
http://www.hippyshopper.com/2007/07/lite2go_by_knoe.html


This example is more about reduced to fit packaging and other tidy elements inside the packaging to hold information.

http://lovelypackage.com/incase/
A tidy and individualised to the company box that has a compartment for documentation that is supplied such as a receipt.  The over lapping lid held by the string/elastic seems strong.  It is also nice to see that the box fix the product in size so there is no excess amount of packaging needed to be filled with paper, bubble plastic etc to stop the item moving around. 

Further development, nets, and prototype

Here I have developed some more ideas on my first design of using slots, by evolving the shape more so, that could work into a second use of a decorative stand by its self. It kind of combines my third ideas second use of a condiment holder.

This is a net for my second design worked out with tabs and slots so no need for glue. I have also gone on to develop a scaled down prototype of my design from a cereal box.

On making the prototype for this design, I think I need to improve the top sections closing and handle system as these kept being pulled up when used.
I will work on further designs to improve this and later this week get the cardboard material I want to use for my design so I can make a full scale prototype and test it properly with the size and weight of the bottles.

Deconstructing Packaging

After the tasks of working with nets,  I thought about dismantling other packaging boxes to have a look at their nets.
Most used glue in some form of little amount to attach the sides together, but I managing to find a couple of examples that were completely glue-less, and these are the ideas that I will take forward into my own design of the Wye Valley Brewery packaging.

The Wii Balance board box had glue to attach the sides together. But here I'm looking at the fold over that holds the plastic handle in place.

The bottom of the box has an overlapping interlock that hold quite firmly with weight in the box, which I find is a good design without using glue.

Looking at the draws that are inside the Wii console box which organises the parts into their own tidy compartments. The draw itself is made as a thick boarder. The compartments inside are made from a cleverly folded net that is held in place by the boarders of the draw.

This box is much like the wine carrier, which uses glue to hold parts of the overlapping base parts when the box is flattened.

A 3DS box, cleverly designed with no glue. Folds and small slots to hold sides in place. I will try to incorporate this element into the design of my box for stable holding. It gives a layer of strength to the sides of the box.

Packaging Nets & Tests

 Task 1

Working with these paper nets was interesting as I got to see the complexness of different kinds of packaging box designs.

 

Q1. What sort of product do you think could use a package like this? Do you think the item would fit straight off or would it need extra padding maybe?

A. This would be used for a perfume bottle of sorts. As to the fitting of the product in this box we would need the context of the actual material of the box and the size of the product to judge the need of padding, but I think as far as this net shows the bottom of the bottle would be held in place and would not need padding if the box is strong.

 

Q2. Do you think that you could improve on this net design? If “yes” then explain in what way[s].  

A. At the moment this net uses glue to put together the sides so the improvement I would say for this box would to use a slotting tab instead.

I did not quite understand how the window was cut apart but instruction could be provided.

Task 2

Q1. Does your chosen package use glue to keep it together? If “yes” then does it use it in abundance or in a minimal way? 

Can you suggest a way that [if glued] this pack might be put together without glue and using ‘locking’ tabs instead? Please note down your thoughts.

A. Yes it uses glue and I would say quite an amount as after it was taken apart the ribbon of glue was quite think. 

My one example of a looking tab would be like the ones you get on top of cereal boxes but bigger and with some overlap inside to hold securely.

Q2. What sort of material is your chosen package made from – card, plastic etc? Is this material ‘virgin’ stock or is it re-used in some way or marked as ‘environmentally friendly’ in some way? Do you think it’s an effective material.

 

A. The likelihood of this being virgin stock is low, as most things are now used from second use of a recycling process.

There is a printed mark on the bottom of the box that specifies that this material is recyclable.

Designs For Packaging

Idea 1
This idea works by using slots to join it together, and in a different shape than the normal box.
The second use would be to reconstruct it as a rack that can be used for bottles, and to be used as a show piece.
The material could be think cardboard or wood for even more stability of the stand.

Idea 2
This would be made from cardboard, and is a simple carry box design, with no windows as the second use needs the backing.
The second use is a dart board with a score board beneath. Hopefully we could supply some cheap darts in the pack as well.
Also in the construction of this box, the area for the handles would normally be popped out and thrown away, but my idea for making it into a circle shape would be for this part to be turned into a coaster/beer mat that would be placed beneath the bottles in the box when put together.

Idea 3
This idea again is working with a different shape than a square box, just to make it stand out.
The can be windows to see the label, and the window for Legges condiment could be in the cow from the logo.
The second use would be to turn it into a condiment holder for several condiments to be placed in, by cutting the box in half and putting together in some way side by side like a tray.

Research of other gift sets from competitors

Main Competitors

Badgers

A pack of four bottles of different beers where you can see the labels through the side cut out windows. There is a clever play on words as it is a set of badger beers but as the word sett is spelt like this it also means the word for where the animal badger lives.




Fullers

A very padded and luxurious gift package for the purpose of showing off one of their beers as a theme. This pack also has the element of added value with a glass and towel. This is a unique solution for a special event/occasion type pack, but it would involve some sort of expense all that material for the padding in the rather roomy box.  


Hook Norton

This is more of a bottle carrier than a gift pack, but very simple in design and colour use With their logo on the box. This is probably for someone that knows what they are buying so it doesn't need the selling point of the package for this type of package.


Wells and Youngs

A wrap around the main part of the bottle, leaving the sides open to see the labels. The design on the packaging is simple and matches the labels of these bottles as they are all the same for this set. 


Woods

Similar to the Wye Valley's current packaging in structure, but the colour seems quite dull  but the pack is livened up by the contents labels that are filled with images.


Other Competitors
Old Speckled Hen

They have kept to their own colours while designing this rap around packaging and given a graphical element of a bottle itself just to illustrate that their logo is their label on the bottles. 


Other examples of gift sets for alcohol:

The above show that they have used the entire bottle shape to show off the product in the pack to its fullest.

These below are more minimal colour design. The windows in the box show off the labels of the bottles, with the individual products. The shapes of the windows can be a point of intrigue to add to the packaging.

This kind of design could be what I'm going for with minimal colour or little colours to help not distract from the product. 

Worcester Resourse Exchange

This place hidden away at the back of the industrial units hides all sorts of materials in bulk taken from companies that don't need or want them.
Its a great place for finding large materials at a cheap prise to construct our work with.