Gdes3003 Weds Group - Proof of Concepts

We looked over a wide range of proof of concepts this afternoon.. There were various different methods, concepts and, materials suggested and (below) will give an idea of where individuals had got to at this stage.

General observations at this stage include:

• 1. Refine your reasoning behind your second use ideas or recycling etc. Be sure they're achievable and ideally be able to relate them to other situations where a similar re-use has been used with a product (possibly in the food and or drinks industry etc).
• 2. Make sure that your packaging ideas are supported by findings in your research so that they are based on real precedents - possibly in other areas (again, food, drink and/or maybe soaps etc, etc).
• 3. Visual treatments. People put some time into the structure of their prototypes but weren't really sure how much visual design was going on their containers. Remember that Peter suggests (in the client meet) that the logo can be reduced, that the typeface must ideally remain the same and their strapline stay the same. Otherwise there is flexibility in visual treatments and the 'blue' was a demonstration only.

Peter Lawley
4. Please don’t be frightened to put thought into the branding of your containers. As long as the logo remains unchanged colours, designs etc are open for redesign. Look at our current branding.

5. Think about transporting a single 2.5L container of paint – outer packaging needs to work for 1 or 2 (ideally).

6. Think about making a full-sized mock up to explore issues of manual handling. Bear in mind that 1000ml of water weighs 1000g, but 1000ml of paint weigh between 1260 and 1500g.

7. Give some thought into how we fill the containers – we are quite primitive in our factory and we need to be able to fill the containers from a bucket. Funnels are acceptable!

8. Think about how containers can be resealed – people like to keep leftover paint and to preserve the paint the container needs to be airtight, removing as much air as possible helps.

9. Think about how paint is taken from the container. If you open the sample jars that I left with Andy you will see that some of our paint is very thick! 

The design is supposed to lower the actual surface area of the delivery and also it will fit perfectly in a box. 

The red shape is actually a window. They will get the paint out of the box by ripping a perforated edge and unscrewing a milk bottle type lid. 

After putting it together I have noticed some design changes that i need to make. 

The label that the company will print will be on the bottom of the box.

PL Good idea for making the packaging fit the box, and looks great too. I will be interested to hear from you how the materials that will be used fit with the requirements of the brief in as far as materials, recycling etc go. Have you given thought to how robust the paint containers will be? 

This is James' main exterior container idea for courier transport. Inside would be 2x tins. there would be a lid over the top and a sleeve that slips around the box to hold it safe. James plans to work more on second use ideas and what elements might compost etc.

PL A good simple and well tested solution. Metal tins fit well with the market position of the company (by adding a sense of quality to the product). Have you given some thought to the sourcing of those tins and their recyclability / reuse etc? A regular shaped cardboard box folds flat and is relatively inexpensive (you might want to investigate standard box sizes), what about the inserts? Good opportunity to give some good thought to the branding. 

Sophie has two or three basic concepts here. The large box is meant as an outer container to house the two 2.5l inner containers. Pictured are the square 2.5l cardboard exterior which has a 'wine box' style inner 'bladder'. Also the (black) upright eco plastic bladder which is a flexible 2.5l container.

PL Good ideas, really innovative. Are any other paint companies doing this? What are the consequences of using a wine bladder – paint is quite thick (some of our paint is very thick), will consumers be able to take the bladder out to squeeze the paint from it? Eco plastic sounds great, not something I know anything about – what is its eco-profile like and how available is it? Can it be printed onto, or would you keep the branding on the cardboard? How does one fill a bladder? 

Egle's picture doesn't really do the idea justice really. It's a sculptured exterior container with a removable 'wine box' interior bladder. Egle's thought carefully about second uses or possibly composting and even the labels are to be designed using seeded papers.

PL Lots of thought gone into this. I look forward to hearing more about the second use ideas. Also, have a look at my comments to Sophie above. 

Amelia has two versions of a similar idea here. Possibly the one that shows maximum potential is the 'trug-style' wicker basket that carries the two pots. Once delivered the idea is that the basket will be re-usable by the purchaser - potentially in the garden etc. The idea is based around various precedents seen commercially but the challenge would be to find a basket supplier who could work in the numbers required/economies of scale etc.

PL Very pretty ideas and well thought out as regards our customers. Are you thinking that the inner containers will metal tins? Can you think of a way of branding the trug? Is wicker robust? Will be interested to hear how available wicker packaging is. 

Lauren has an interesting idea that involves a triangular 'tin' that helps minimise paint stuck in corners, is strong in construction and one that can be put face to face with another like tin and fastened together for courier transit. It has a clever recess underneath too that means that another like tin will 'clip' in to it for shelf stocking/stability.

PL Good thinking. I like the idea that the triangular shape is strong and also stacks well. What are your thoughts about the outer packaging, will a regular cardboard box do, or do you need an insert with a matching recess? 

Andy has used available 'cup' packing to help illustrate how his idea might work - here with round tins but his idea uses a sort of 'kidney' shaped container that he's mocked up on screen in a 3D programme at this moment (I'll try to get a screen shot to add).

PL Good solution for a shopper – but does this need additional boxing for a courier? I can see this working within a regular rectangular cardboard box. 

Sarah's solution is simplistic at present and is based around the classic 'Innocent Smoothie' style pack. what's not clear yet is how/where a cap might go, whether the pack has a clear second use and how they might travel protected in pairs if needed.

PL Elegant look – might want to consider a “milk carton” approach where the top can be opened up to get all the paint out. Painers quite like to use the packaging as a paint kettle, so perhaps a handle would be helpful. 

Polina bought in some well-considered early prototype ideas - once centred around minimising packaging as best possible (centre), one as a double pack (bottom) and one within a larger cardboard tube for protected travel in pairs. Feedback from peers was especially positive regards the latter concept and her ideas to look at cardboard tube re-use with a sealing inner layer is one of the more radical aired.

PL
#1 Well crafted packaging – It looks like you have given a lot of thought to the construction of the cardboard structure so that it can be folded from a flat sheet. As my comment to Andy above, have you thought about how to protect this in transit? Maybe a rectangular cardboard box?

#2 This is very interesting – I’m fascinated to hear about the sealing inner layer and the re-use. I love the idea that the tins are laid down and the packaging wrapped around them. Have you thought about the implications of putting 2 x 2.5L of paint one above another? Is is easy to handle? How would couriers treat it – it would have to lie on its side, could the tins get squashed?

#3 Beautifully minimal. Would it provide the level of protection that we need? How is the tin fitted? 

Rachel's idea revolves around two triangular liquid containers which could sit on their own on shelves and snugly next to each other in her larger (rectangular) container. she's looking at wrapping the main box that contains the two separates in twine to help protect it in courier transport. Rachel has ideas for re-use too which include re-using the twine in the garden for the keener garden.

PL I like the idea of inner container that fit snugly in the outer box. Triangular containers ate quite a radical idea in a quite conservative market – but why not? Have you given thought to how the containers are constructed, what they are made of, how they are opened? 

Karla had some really well-considered prototype concepts - especially so with the tube and two separate inserts. Well-constructed and well-considered with specifics worked-in through discussion with her professional decorator mother! Limited ideas for second use at present but suggests that the main container for couriers could be sent back to PoP for re-use with couriers.

PL Very elegant design. Have a think about how the paint will be removed from the corners of the tins (our emulsion is very thick). Would a “yin-yang” type of shape make for easier access to a paintbrush through a lid? If a customer wants one 2.5L of paint does the tube change, or do we pack the other space with something else? 

Lizzie was keen where possible to use natural materials and had two ideas for the safe transport of pots (right) and a simple main container for protection during courier transport. Interestingly, Lizzie was looking into sections of bamboo as natural containers. These could potentially hold fluids safely but Lizzie hasn't fully looked into second use or possible recycling options.

PL Bamboo sounds very interesting! A simple cardboard box has its advantages – it folds flat for storage and provides good surfaces for branding. I like the square top and bottom supports that you show in the centre of the image, fits well with the rectangular box. 

Alex has also gone for two semicircular containers that can be fastened together to make a whole. At present Alex wants to work more on the visual look and feel, the exterior protection during transportation (possibly using the mushroom packaging material to make a container that protects but can be re-used as a planter after it's first use), second use etc. 

PL Some radical ideas here – semicircular containers might make the outer packaging easier to design, but don’t forget about shipping a single 2.5L. Very interested to hear about mushroom packaging material. 

This is misleading to some extent as Sam intended to try to show a flexible container akin to how Dulux had experimented. He ultimately sees himself using the flexible corn starch plastic as a 'bladder' or similar. He also wants to look more into re-use and/or recycling capabilities.

PL I know nothing about Dulux’s experiment with a flexible container but I am very keen to know if it was successful, and if not why not. A bladder is good because the paint can be squeezed out of the nozzle, but you do need to think carefully about transport (I can imagine couriers delighting in jumping onto bladders and watching them pop).

Ref: http://www.packagingnews.co.uk/design/markets/dulux-trials-flexible-paint-pouches/

Jodie also uses two semi-circular containers that sit within a larger tube for transport via courier. She's presently looking into possible container re-uses and/or the feasibility of return of external transport containers etc.

PL Alex above is considering semicircular containers so have a look at my comments to him. It’s a clever idea and its good to see how you have thought about the outer packaging – the divider is very sensible I think. Interested to hear about re-use ideas, and returns. 

Simple containers within a main container idea from Nathan. He sees this evolving though before final submission and this really just represents his present draft thinking. He also explains that he's going to look more into second uses and/or recyclability..

PL Good see a simple approach to accessing the paint. Decorators do like to use the container as a paint kettle – could a handle be fitted or would this make the container unstable on a stepladder? 

Matt is very interested in the mushroom packaging idea and sees his prototype as an external skeleton made from the material (that could use local agricultural waste materials to construct it). Within the external container two aluminium tins would sit as this metal is the easiest to re-use using the least energy of any other metal to recycle it once it's had a first use.

PL Aluminium is an interesting idea – have you considered the initial energy requirement to make it against its recyclability compared to steel? I can see that making a splash about its recyclability could drastically increase the proportion that is recycled (currently at a pretty poor level). Very interested to hear about your ideas for mushroom packaging and local agricultural waste. 

John admits that this is a very basic and early rendition of his idea - which would also use a 'wine box' style bladder in reality.

PL Lots of mileage in a flexible interior container – think about materials and how we would fill it . 

Cat uses simple and existing technology akin to the 'Innocent Smoothie' containers. She feels that they would need some form of additional support though if they were to carry 2.5l of liquid. In part this is solved by the sleeve you see here for the 2x containers transport but the product still needs to stand alone on a shelf potentially so I suggested considering folds or more sculpted variants of the container style. Cat is also looking into possible re-uses of her current idea.

PL Very interesting. Keen to hear about the materials that are used to make this type of container and their environmental impact. The cardboard sleeve is a good idea – needs to be robust enough to prevent inner cartons slipping out of the ends and to withstand being thrown about.