Buff Puff

About

In this project we were given the task of re-designing the packaging for a dollar item of our choosing. This package re-design needed to meet the following criteria:

1.) Reduction of overall materials—size matters;

2.) Reusability—can the packaging have a life beyond the retail/consumer experience;

3.) Recyclability of all material used for the packaging.

Goal

When I first looked at this product I noticed that it was surrounded by a large number of beauty products that were similary packaged- that is they were all sitting in plastic bags that were way to big for what was actually inside. For the Wonder Puff especically, the bag held four sponges and it seemed to me that it was way too big and could have been reduced by at least half.

Process Work

Starting out I decided I wanted to look in the direction of making the packaging fit around the sponge itself. At first I was trying to construct a package that would encapsulate the sponge- while these worked, it seemed like it would be difficult to take it further than the beginning stages.

Prototype try #1- The shape of the sponge was inspiration for this idea. I looked at this shape as a way to save a lot of extra unnecessary cardboard. I also experimented with the cardboards thickness, and in this trial I tried having the cardboard three sheets thick. The thickness along with the shape made it very difficult to cut and keep it looking clean.

Prototype try #2- The shape of trial #1 was refrenced for this idea. I looked at this shape as a way to ease the problems of cutting that I was having in trial #1. For the cardboards thickness I tried having the cardboard three sheets thick. The thickness along with the shape made it alot easier to cut and keep it looking clean but I wasnt overly impressed with how it looked.

Prototype try #3- The shape of this trial was a combination of trying to figure out a good medium between the two previous trials and with the help of Jeff Davis. This shape also eased the problems of cutting that I was having in the previous trials. For the cardboards thickness I tried having the cardboard just one sheet thick. The thickness along with the shape made it alot easier to cut and keep it looking clean and I was impressed with how it looked so I decided to carry this idea further.

Refinement

In order to refine this packaging lots of factors needed to be considered. I wanted to have a package that could be either hung up on a display or could sit upright comfortably in a display box. I also had to consider the possibility of the product being taken out of the open packaging- a tighter band around the middle, the band fitting into two notches on the side, and finally tape holding the two openings closed.