Cardboard Carriers
Introduction: Research and Requirements
This new project requires us to create carriers for our selected objects. I have chosen to do chocolates. Okay let’s be more specific: at least 6 ‘gift-quality’ chocolates. I am excited about this!
Okay, so what are carriers (in the context of this assignment)? They are just products which can be used to carry specific objects from one place to another. The important word in this small definition is ‘specific.’ Each type of object must have a specially designed carrier that complements the features of that object in a way that it can be carried safely and efficiently without damaging the object or harming the user.
Some common characteristics to consider when designing the carriers would be that it must be portable, light-weight, easy-to-use, aesthetically pleasing, easy to make etc.
The task of using cardboard only is going to be a challenge. Honestly, it will be interesting to overcome it considering the features we will have to create by just using card board. For example, we might have to create hinges or small indentations. So I believe that this will test our creative skills to the very best.
Here are a few examples I found on the internet of chocolate carriers that are already present in the market.
Here are a few things that I found similar in most of the chocolate boxes. They tried to have separate compartments for each piece of chocolate; most of them only had a single layer for the chocolates to be stored; most of them followed the design of a simple box; apart from a few exceptions, they garnered their aesthetic value from graphical representations on the top of the box; most of them had different types of chocolate in a single box.
THE DESIGNER’S DILEMA
After taking design technology in high-school I was aware about the idea that we had to look for the right balance in between aesthetics and functionality. I believe that I am going to have a hard time figuring that out in this project. Considering the fact that we might have to look at this carrier as something that can be given as a gift, I must acknowledge the aesthetics of the product as well. It will be a challenging task. Let’s do it!
WORKING WITH CARDBOARD: A total Disaster :(
I worked with cardboard for the first time. I tried to explore the joints in a close ended cylinder. Here is how it turned out to be.
Wow! I definitely need to work on my craftsmanship. However, I understood how the cardboard worked. I understood its functionality in terms of the material, the structure and its rigidity. It’s going to be difficult to not use a tape or any adhesive. I have feeling that this is going to need a lot of work and time. This will require, as Steve said in class, thinking outside the box!
Sketch Model 1
When Stacie said sketch models in class, I thought that we were supposed to sit with our sketchbooks and come up with design. Well… I was wrong. Entirely. We were asked to make full-scaled models of the carriers. And to my horror, my skill with the cardboard was pathetic. I spent the whole weekend trying to figure out, how to make a hinge without an adhesive. The WHOLE WEEKEND! And I still could not come up with a way to do that. We had to come up with multiple sketch models, but I ended up with just one. Which wasn’t very good either. However, I wouldn’t say that the weekend was a failure. I did get acclimatised to the cardboard to be honest. I could work better with it when I created my sketch-model.
There are several problems with this sketch model. Firstly the craftsmanship is really bad and definitely needs a lot of work. I have used tape and glue. However, one thing I am struggling to get on to terms with the aesthetic appeal of the carrier. The visual boxiness of the carrier isn’t very reflective of the spherical Ferrero Rochers that it holds. I feel that if I found this sitting on a shelf in a grocery store, I would not be particularly attracted to it. I would not want to buy it if I did not know what it was holding. It fails to appeal to the consumer in terms of aesthetics. There is one more problem with this. The sketch model is made up of four different pieces. So it would be more difficult to pack it and there is also a possible wastage of material in terms of more pieces being used.
There are a few things that I believe it does very well. It safely holds chocolates. Even though it does not have an aesthetic appeal to, the subtle pushing mechanism that I added, gives a good interactive feature to the design. It safely holds the chocolates, without the possibility of any chocolates falling off.
Sketch Model 2
With this sketch model, I wanted to explore handles. From the review in class for the first sketch model, I was told to experiment with ways in which the user may know the way to hold the the carrier. Hence, the handle. Unfortunately, this sketch model also used adhesive and tape. This is something that I will have to start thinking about soon. Furthermore, even this one uses three different parts to the whole carrier. If turned upside down, there is a possibility of the chocolates falling outside. I also think that the suspense of opening a gift is taken away by keeping these chocolate open.
However, there are several things that I think that worked with the sketch model. The carrier is definitely more reflective of what it is carrying: the chocolates can be seen quite clearly. The design is simple (in a good way), and it definitely does a better job in the realms of aesthetics. For some reason, I believe that the form of the carrier as a whole hints towards that of a clichéd gift boxes that you might picture under a Christmas tree.
It fulfils its requirement of carrying chocolates and does it quite efficiently. The handle gives the user an idea of the way it is supposed to be held. Even though this is true, I am still conflicted of whether the handle is required or not. I thought about it. Chocolate Boxes or carriers aren’t actually huge that they require a special handle to carry them. They are usually small and fit quite easily in the users hand. I found it useful to reflect on the functionality of a handle in terms of my project. While it did not serve to be a downside, its necessity is questionable. After thinking about it, I decided that handles aren’t actually necessary and decided to not use them for the next sketch model I make.
Sketch Model 3
YES! I finally figured out how to make things rotate. And for some reason, after all this time, it felt really simple. Unfortunately though, this still uses glue :(. Stacie said something in class that intrigued me. She said that it is the surprising interaction with a carrier that can also make the carrier appealing to the user (instead of aesthetics.) I was particularly inspired by Sam’s work. The interaction of the user and the carrier was just fascinating. This made me wonder how I can make my piece more interactive. Rotation or rather hinging was a mechanism that I wanted to use to explore this interactiveness.
The string. The string that I added was to keep it all together. And I felt that it added that ‘gift-quality’ to it. However, Steve and Stacie pointed out that the string wasn’t really necessary. And I agreed. With a few additions of tabs, I think it would work. Here are a few things that I believed to work really well with this carrier. It was safe. I was compact and easy to carry. There is a certain gift like quality to it. The interaction and the mechanism of the whole thing was definitely more interest than my earlier projects.
Things that need to be improved, or things that did’t work: the boxiness that was present in the first sketch model was still there. It doesn’t scream CHOCOLATES like it should.
This sketch model feels right to be honest. I honestly believe that I am going the right direction. There are definitely many things that need to be worked. My first step would be to think about how to reduce the number card-board piece that are required during assemble. Secondly, I want to start thinking about abandoning the luxury of tape and adhesives.
For Peer-review
I worked on revising my third sketch model. I thought about something that I had learnt in middle school: Geometrical Nets. They were 2-dimensional representations of all the surfaces and edges of a shape. I tried creating that for my sketch-model #3.
And thank the lord… IT WORKED! I was overflowing with joy. I managed to create a full-scaled working carrier WITHOUT glue or tape. And guess what, it HINGED! The tab system seemed to work beautifully.
The response from my classmates was quite encouraging. It gives me confidence that this is the way to go. Even though they feel that the craftsmanship is great, I know that there is major room for improvement. Also I don’t think that a handle is necessary considering the size of the carrier which would be easy to carry by hand. I would have to put some thought into that. For some reason, I am not entirely convinced that the form fulfils the purpose of appealing to the user when they might first see it. My peers felt that the scale of the box is fitting, and well thought off considering the object it is carrying. The assembly is definitely very simple and the chocolates can be carried very safely.
For some reason, I am not entirely convinced that the form fulfils the purpose of appealing to the user when they might first see it. Steve and Stacie mentioned that the carrier wasn’t self indicative of the way the user might hold it. The boxiness is still retained and I don’t agree with my peers that the carrier reflects the fact that it is carrying chocolate. The boxiness doesn’t complement the spherical nature of the chocolates. Alice and Nick suggested that the carrier doesn’t quite clearly portray of what side is the top and which one is the bottom when it is totally closed. This was definitely an issue. Solving this issue might take me a step closer to solve the problem of the carrier being pro-indicative of the way it should be carried.
I am not particularly sure about what I must do next, but I do know what I need to keep in mind. So this might be good way to move forward.
Final Product
Firstly, let me acknowledge the fact that the craftsmanship is bogus. I do not want to give an excuse for it but here it is: it is really difficult to source cardboard here. So I found a contact that sourced it for me from the very factory it was being manufactured. And this factory was a little far away. So I had to tell them in advance on what kind of cardboard and the amount that I required. After the peer-review, I had used up all the cardboard that I had. So I placed an order for another one and he said that he would only provide the cardboard by Sunday. Unfortunately on Sunday they did not give me the right type of cardboard! And it was only on Tuesday (the day the project was due) by 1 pm (IST) did I get the right cardboard pieces. And whats worse? The cardboard was just freshly made, so corrugation and the cardboard was very soft, so the cuts weren’t as refined as they should be. It was a nightmare but I did get it done though. It took me two whole hours!
Here are the things that I changed for the final iteration. I cut out rectangular and square spaces in the front facing surfaces. This would help the consumer know what the carrier is carrying. I added a tab on the top flap. This gave it a more finished look according to me. Furthermore, it helped orientating the carrier. The tab on the flap helped in recognising which half was the upper half, like a collar in a t-shirt. I left more spaces in between the two containers in order to make room for the cut-out for the tab to go into. This is something that I learned from the previous model that I made.
