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[above: The Design Pod mobile office concept by Andrew Maynard]
What if you could simply reuse packaging as part of a product rather than sending away for disposal or recycling? Some industrial designers have taken up the challenge with varied results. Like creative flat-pack designs, the constraints of the projects become opportunities for self-expression and to (literally) think outside the box.
Tom Ballhatchet is a jack-of-all trades, working on inventions, interior designs and ecologically friendly products. His work is perhaps best understood through a single object that combines all of these interests: his television box that turns into a stand after a quick transformation following the unpacking of its contents.
Olivia Cheung is a conceptual artist and product designer who specializes in three dimensional design with an emphasis on popular culture. One of her projects involves light bulb packaging that also takes on the function of a lamp shade. In principle this is simple, in practice it combines entertainment, reuse and feasibility.
Knoend is a commercial company that has put into practice Cheung’s design concept, creating semi-transparent and still-elegant packaging that conveniently folds out into a surprisingly appealing minimalist light cover for the purchased fixture.
Zero Thick has another solution the the package-as-product problem. It perhaps isn’t as elegant, but it also doesn’t aim to be. In a very modernist way the packaging is expressive of its multiple purposes and shows both its final use (as a candle holder) and its prior purpose (as a candle package) quite clearly and creatively. For more compact furniture check out this collection of transformable and convertible urban furniture.
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30 Comments
February 1st, 2008 at 8:13 pm
I wonder if the Design Pod mobile office could be motorised? Then it’d be the ultimate cool mobile office :)
February 2nd, 2008 at 10:17 am
Some fantastic ideas there. Packaging does seem to be something that designers are focussing on these days. If value can be added to the packaging then it becomes a non-disposable waste of resources.
February 2nd, 2008 at 10:43 am
This makes sense logically.
But it won’t become reality until it makes sense emotionally.
I know that these examples are very crude, but ideas like this won’t become exciting and mainstream ready until the packaging disappears when the products are in their usage stage. That is what is necessary for this idea to scale.
I love a challenge, let’s do it!
February 2nd, 2008 at 11:06 am
Office pod isn only a “concept.” Would like to see a real one. The lightbulb in a box without the lamp is…well…lame. I’m fond of my light fixtures.
The only really neat idea is the TV box. It seems to make the most sense.
February 2nd, 2008 at 11:31 am
Seems like a good start. One problem I see is the furniture will get scratched up during shipping. Maybe make the interior of the furniture the exterior of the shipping package. There would be more assembly time, but I think the design options would open up.
February 2nd, 2008 at 11:56 am
These are fantastic, not only ecological but political. Brilliant stuff, what a great way to capture materials no one thinks about and re-purpose them into not only a statement, but good looking things as well!
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:27 pm
The future apparently blows.
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:45 pm
This is really cool! Thanks for this article and for the interesting ideas :)
February 2nd, 2008 at 2:03 pm
This is stupid. The ‘packaging’ will just be thrown away later rather than earlier. That’s not doing anything good to the ecology. And the very fact that all these solutions require you to buy something new to replace something you already have doesn’t help.
February 2nd, 2008 at 2:45 pm
ugly. every single one of them.
February 2nd, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Indeed packing getting bruised could be a problem, Rob, and you’re welcome Dona! Eric: one of the things to keep in mind is that by making the packaging part of the product you actually do reduce net waste because that is one less item being produced (i.e. the packaging is not created in addition to the product). So, while it will eventually have to be discarded either way fewer things are created in the first place.
February 2nd, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Most of these only look clever on the surface but do not solve anything. The “candlestick” package is the worst; it doesn’t have the weight of a real candlestick, and it has a large surface area. The draft from opening a door would easily knock it over, making it a serious fire hazard! The lightbulb with lampshade-as-packaging is simply wasteful; instead of buying one lampshade (which are often sold with minimal or no packaging), you would be paying for and wasting a lampshade every time you replaced the bulb.
February 2nd, 2008 at 9:08 pm
the light bulb design would save on the package but would urn the house down!
do you know how hot a bulb gets even after a few minutes on use?
February 2nd, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Agree with many comments. Concept is great, but only seems to work with the TV stand. The other designs are eventually going to be thrown out or need to be tested for practicality.
I revisit the theme of packaging for my own company, trying to keep excess at a minimum. It’s not easy given that mailed items will get dirty, and the packaging has to provide some buffer to protect the product itself. (Would love to hear input if anyone has any!)
Kind of related, but maybe not as cool looking, are some grocery store sandwich meats that come in plastic containers! Just like the Ziploc ones that you would otherwise pay for, and totally reusable for bringing sandwiches or soups to work :)
February 3rd, 2008 at 3:48 am
Looks totally bogus to me, in this world I would have to trade the usefulness and cost of the item (say the TV) with whether the box will look good in my room, plus the sacrificial surface stays on the outside, meaning that they will have to be packaged twice or the shop won’t be able to ship them in dirty trucks.
And as for the candlestick/light bulb you replace ornamental fixtures with functional plastic and environmentally cheap (compostable or power from waste - simply folded recycled card) packaging with environmentally poor injection formed plastic.
February 3rd, 2008 at 6:39 am
The volume of negative comments is kind of surprising. Mostly, these are ideas revolving around a concept: that of using product as packaging. It’s hard to see how the concept would be problematic, though clearly the implementation isn’t foolproof in some of these cases. Perhaps the best thing to do is to overlook the details and consider/imagine further possibilities.
February 3rd, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Fancy design is no excuse for excessive consumption.
You know darn well that the TV box will be packed in a cardboard box, or else FedEx will slap an additional $12 charge on the shipment for “non-standard packaging”. Also the cardboard will probable be wrapped in plastic at least three times so the petro-chemical pirates will be able to steal their share of your dollars. Then, when you actually do reuse all your packaging and generate zero waste at your household your local waste collection company, in collusion with your local government, will slap you with a lawsuit on you for your not paying them to haul away the waste you do not generate. (base on an actual case)
so, the only real solution is to not buy the TV in the first place. So, what will you do with your time? How about make friends with your neighbors, or read a book.
John (just about had it with excessive consumption) Leeke
February 7th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
While several of these don’t look that great, the one of the lighbulb / lampshade package is pretty cool. Otherwise - our cats like to sit in all the cardboard boxes we bring home, so someone should consider cat beds as another option :)
May 1st, 2008 at 10:13 pm
I think the TV packaging could work well with products targeted at students or young adults. Economics trumps aesthetics in some cases.
November 19th, 2008 at 3:55 am
bearing in mind these are designs, there leave themselves room for people to research and modify them to improve on the design.
design and innovation should not be dismissed … it is there to propell your thiking in a way to work more sustainably. even if one person looks at a design and finds a better solution, the design can become more efficient and useable in the real world.
being sustainable is at the forefront of everyones mind being as i quote from waste watch;
‘Every year, around 28 million tonnes of household waste is produced in the UK. Although this waste would fill the Royal Albert Hall in just one hour, it represents only 5% of the total waste produced. It contains large quantities of organic waste which can cause pollution problems, as well as materials such as glass and plastics which do not easily break down. ‘
people need to start using their initiative and begin to accept the design not dismiss them, if you dont think it will work i suggest you dont slam the idea maybe think of a way to improve it.
positive thiking seems a rareity nowadays. I like the designs they are refreshing, different and something that could be used. Where most are probably at their beginning stages of design i do believe we are on a winner even having considered the concept of designing sustainably.
December 31st, 2008 at 3:42 pm
while prototyping objects for sustainable use in packaging we should consider making and using products that can be recycled 100% studies indicate certain metal alloys can withstand constant and repeated recycling. In other words our phones,mp3 players game machines and the media flash memory,cd,dvd and so on could become 100% recyclable. just think of where we might have been if the free music phase had not been stoped by copyright laws. open source is another example of collective thinking,building. free music mp3’s had zero packaging and was 100% recyclable in the value of a song to a friend after you totally over played it. open source allows ideas to be constantly evolving and improvement abound. Computer aided desig and manufacturing with sustainable materials could lead us to gagets that go obsolete in one or two years but then are collected and recycled 100% made into new objects with new features atthat work better and cost less. phones are a computer in your hand more chip speed than the first desktops. think inovate create and share . ideas evolve improve them and pass them on.
January 5th, 2009 at 1:12 am
I actually like these. They’re nice ideas. Of course, they have flaws. What doesn’t? So I vote we work on them. We are smart enough, or are we not? For example:
The bulb box thing.
How about turning it into two different artsy products? A Starter box wich is bigger than the other ones to keep from burning down, that includes wire and stuff for the bulb to beinstalled in and a bulb. Plus, there should be guidelines on the inside to cut out circles for the light to go through and rectangular slots for the following:
Smaller modular addons! they’re just like normal boxes, but they don’t have the wire and plug and other lampstuff. Just a replacement bulb and patterns on the inside to take a needle and punch through them, and 2 rectangluar slots. This way it’s like a sweet modular indoor lamp, that can be expanded at the pace the bulbs break down. Or by adding some more of the bigger ones wich would make the whole thing even a tad brighter.
Or the Candle holder:
This one’s easy, close the stand and have the buyer fill it with sand, rocks or water. Also using the smooth packaging instead of the rough one, would make it easier to remove dripped wax.
And finally the TV,
Storebought. Theyre’s no extra fee for unusual packaging in your car’s trunk, is there? Also, If you have box actually be wood and the outside fuzz be packaged on the inside and later zipped on the shelving like a pillowcase it wouldn’t get dirty through shipping, pluss it adds nice padding for your brand new LCD not to get mashed on the trip. Or another Idea if you like the Pillowcase one: make it a whole zipcasething. Not just outside, but inside as well. Keep it in place (and from dropping on your stuff) by keeping it with a simple stick-like rig: imagine a cube. Take the edges, discard the areas. what you have now is like a stick figure of a cube. choose one of the vertical lines. Keep all the lines directly connected to it. Discard the others. That is what you push into the very back corners of the shelving unit. It should frame it perfectly without making you unable to look at your pretty fluff.
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