Miracle hunting
It is now the second week of the project, and I can already feel time slipping away from me.
After many attempts at trying to arrive at a new project idea (as my original one was basically rejected and I was given a new, very broad assignment, which in concept sounds like something I am interested in, but in reality has basically nullified the amount of work I have put into researching my preferred topic over the summer, and am now in the deep waters with no raft and a tight deadline), I still feel as if I am in serious need of help from my lecturer.
As I imagine it would be like working for a company or client, requesting my employer to give me direction on the product would not be unexpected or unacceptable. The very notion of having a brief by a client is something that is completely missing from our project this year. It is unnerving and stressful, but it also affords me to work on what I am passionate about.
I have now identified three IoM3 Starpack Students briefs which I could potentially incorporate into my design decisions. Submission deadline for these competitions will be April 12th, so about a month and a half before the Major Project at university. However, I remember it was quite a fun challenge when I submitted in my HND course 3 years ago to the Logoplaste brief (the one I won), and it always looks great on a CV or Portfolio. This could help me narrow down my search for the perfect project.
Here are my favorite briefs:
- Brief B (Logoplaste) – 3in1 plastic travel set for favorite Shampoo – Conditioner – Moisturiser (on the go, camping, leisure, business) – circular economy, shelf presence
(3/4 A3 development boards) - Brief C (MPMA) – luxury promotional (only) metal pack to hold a 100ml bottle of perfume, aftershave or cologne – fictitious brand reflecting the quality retail gift sector (duty-free areas at airports; high-end, high-street stores; and specialist fragrance stores)
(3/4 A3 development boards) - Brief F (IoM3) – Choose a material for packaging and identify and explore
(a report up to 3000 words + 5min video)- how a traditional packaging material can be adapted to do its job better OR
- how an innovative new material can be used as a substitute to a traditional material
My thinking is, if I decide to design a plastic 3in1 travel personal care set or a metal perfume bottle, I could just as well enter Brief F. Brief B is a traditional material (plastic) adapted to do its job better, while Brief C is a more innovative material (metal as opposed to glass).
However, neither the cosmetic care set nor the perfume bottle is anything I have a personal gripe with. Other than the fact that liquid moisturisers, conditioners and shampoos, as well as perfumes are known to contain harmful chemicals. I have been using solid body wash soaps for the past few years, and they work just fine. They last longer, are a lot smaller and require a lot less and more eco-friendly packaging. No need for plastic. And I also do not feel the need for perfumes as such, although I love a beautiful bottle, it is nice to be able to see the contents through the glass. So the need for a metal bottle is moot. So really, it is only Brief F I should worry about.
I once again consulted Chat GPT to gain some further insight into products which traditionally come in non-environmentally-friendly packaging, and it has reminded me of some I have not thought of before.
Here are the ones I liked (excerpt from three conversations):
- Office supplies: pens, markers, highlighters, tape – often non-recyclable plastic
- Single-use contact lenses and packaging: Individual blister packs
- Cosmetic, personal care, cleaning products: plastic containers – often not recyclable; microplastics (scrubs)
- Disposable razors: non-recyclable plastic
- Single-use wet cat and dog food pouches: composite materials, non-recyclable
- Fast food packaging: disposable containers, cups, and utensils – non-recyclable materials
- Packaging for online shopping: excessive packaging, plastic fillers
- Frozen food packaging: non-recyclable plastic film, plastic bags
- Home DIY, hardware packaging: batteries, light bulbs, screws – often non-recyclable blister packs or plastic containers
Toys and toy packaging: non-recyclable plastic
Some of the common reasons I found for the use of excessive, unnecessary packaging:
- Deter shoplifters
large, security devices, sealing - Keep the product safe
excessive void fill, avoid spillage, not get lost in transport - Drive sales
more attractive, larger, use of colours - Brand image
use of colours, materials, textures - Lower cost
plastic is still very cheap to make, recycling is not cost- or energy-efficient, expensive to replace machines, cheap manufacturing in distant countries – excessive transport
And some ideas to help fix the issues identified:
- Natural, fully recyclable materials, insulation (metal, bamboo, wood, cork, glass, mycelium)
- Clearly display the exact material for ease of recycling
- At-home compostable, biodegradable materials
- Edible packaging (hygiene concerns!)
- Design for easy separation (material layers, stickers, glue)
- Reusable/ refillable packaging (elegant boxes, wood, metal, glass containers)
- In-store dispensers for refillable packaging
- Moldable gel/ putty/ water-filled packaging for shock-absorption
- Tighter, more form-fitting packaging (eliminate empty air)
- Dry storage to reduce water use and product weight (freeze-dried food, toothpaste tablets, cleaning powders, personal care bars)
- Use of beeswax for waterproofing
- Original material colours, natural dyes, reduced colours, remove metallic decoration
- Easy-to-crush boxes, bottles
- Design with elderly, disabled in mind (easy-open, Braille, textures, contrast)
Using Notion, I created a table with all the ideas here and put them in order of a possible solution and my personal interest:
According to the table, my most desired twelve items to work on are (funnily enough, exactly half of them were generated by ChatGPT):
- Stationery, office supplies
- Supermarket meal deal packaging
- Styrofoam packaging
- Home DIY, hardware packaging
- Contact lenses and packaging
- Medicine blister packs
- Cosmetic, personal care, cleaning products
- Milk/juice carton with plastic cap
- Peel-off lidding film packaging
- Glass jar lids
- Packaging for online shopping
- Toys and toy packaging
Here are the updated slides, in order, with the added 10 ideas based on my “conversations” with ChatGPT:
We were also tasked with creating a Hunt statement. This is my previous version:
“I am going to be researching products and/or services which have been designed to be overly complicated and create a high environmental impact so that I can design out these issues and offer a more environmentally friendly and economical solution.“
and this is my latest one:
“I am going to research widely used wasteful packaging and harmful materials so that I can propose a set of efficient, environmentally friendly alternatives not yet on the market.”
I MUST remember to update this after my class tomorrow, because we have to upload them to the Moodle platform by 5 pm, before the lecture and group discussion on Thursday.
After class
My lecturer suggested I steer away from secondary research – while my findings were most likely valid, he believes first-hand experience of physically taking apart 5-10 products will teach me a lot more about the issues I could tackle with my design. I think it was a bit of a misunderstanding on my part – I missed the “physical” part of his recommendation last week. But it’s okay – I already started, at lunch, when I purchased a Tesco meal deal and took photos of my tuna pasta salad container.
Honestly, thinking about all of the inconsiderate decisions designers have made, and the companies who buy the products and sell them to customers who have no better options just enrages me… Not to mention the inconsistencies and stupid decisions done in the recycling system. It truly boggles the mind.
My current system consists of adding photos and annotations to a PowerPoint slide, then writing down my thoughts on the issues I noticed and the possible solutions.
Here’s a list of the other few products I would like to take apart and analyse:
- Tesco meal deal lunch – sandwich
- Tesco meal deal – drink bottle
- Tesco meal deal – snack packaging
- 10pcs tissue packet
- Amazon cardboard box
- Ebay bubblewrap envelope
- Electronics packaging (box, stickers)
- Package of batteries/screws/hardware
- Contact lens packaging
- Medicine blister pack
- Juice/milk box
- Cosmetic/personal care product packaging
- Supermarket microwave/oven meal packaging
- Glass jar lid
- Tea box (decaf)
- Empty protein powder box and spoon
- Pasta packaging – plastic, sticker, label of material
- Produce (fruit, vegetable) netting
- Tin can