Saturday 19 April 2014

OUGD505: Studio brief 2 - Packaging development.

I chose two box designs to create models of and test how functional they would be as candle packaging. 

The first box I drew and modelled up was the slot box. I chose to model this one as, if I chose to use it, it would add a flair of creativity and quirkiness. I also wanted to test how easy it would be to open and close the box. 



Once I had drawn the box net out, I cut the shape, folded and superglued the folds together for sturdiness. However I found that The box, with the slot fastening actually seemed very weak, with a clear possibility of ripping. I found the box easy to open, but very hard to slot back together, It was the type of box that seemed as though it could be opened only once before It is discarded. 
My aim was to create a box that could be held onto and kept to store the candle in when not in use, therefore the box would be opened and closed a number of times, and therefore this box was not functional. 



I then drew up and modelled the box with the base shape of a hexagon and a simple jar type lid that would easily lift off and onto the box. I picked this design/shape as it was very complementary to the circular form of the candle. The box being a hexagon shape would create an image of wrapping and almost moulding around the candle. 
I found that the simple jar lid was very easy to remove and replace without damaging the box as I was worried with the previous design, and therefore could be a 'keepsake' in which the candle could be located when not in use. However I found when placing the candle inside that it was hard to pull in and out of the box, and so to fix this idea I adjusted the dimensions of the box. I designed the box so that the height of the base/box was smaller than that of the candle. Therefore It could be easily pulled out without struggle. This would mean that in order to make up for the shorter body of the box, the lid will have to be longer. 

However still not pleased with the design, I began to consider more technical aspects of the box. I began to think about how the overlapping of the lid on top of the body of the box when pushed closed, would interrupt and create an anti-seamless illustration, if I were to illustrate the whole box from top to bottom. To fix this problem before I came to it, I decided to again adjust the design of the box slightly. 

I want to place a piece of card inside the parameter of the box body, which will be taller than the box. This means that when the lid is placed on top of the box and pushed down, the bottom edge of the lid, and top edge of the box will meet creating a flush joint, instead of overlapping one another. This means that the body of the box will still be shorter than the height of the candle, meaning easy removal of the candle from the box. However it also means that If I create a set of illustrations which need to be seem less from top to bottom, the lid will no longer interrupt the flow, like it would if It were to overlap the box.

I also thought about how this new inside layer could be used to reinforce the box to make it stronger. Creating a new inside layer does mean that naturally the box will be stronger. However I could consider the stock in which I will use to create this section, to make the box even stronger. Likewise, I considered how this new layer would affect the aesthetic of the box. I considered that if the box were to be illustrated, the inside layer could be a plain colour, which I could colour pick from the outside layer to create something complementary and coherent to the outside.  

I followed the same design process for the tea light box, where I came up with 2 concepts using the hexagon base. The first Idea I came up with was to create a long hexagon tube where inside, the tea lights would be stacked in a single column. However I found that technically for this design to work, the amount of tea lights in the box would have to be reduced from 12 to 8 or 10. This would be more appropriate, as when I stacked the set of 12 yankee candle tea lights, the tube seemed much too tall in ratio to the small pillar candle box.
Themes for illustrations. I also considered how, once the user had used the top few candles from the stack, it would be difficult for them to reach down to pick further tea lights out. The tall shape of the tube could also have issues such as warping and breaking during transit. I also found that the tube shape wasn't very functional in terms of labelling the box. The hexagonal tube is made of of 6 very thin panels, all of which do not house enough room to place a readable label describing the product inside the box.  


The second design I came up with was more inspired by the the original Yankee candle tea light box. The original box is a cube/cuboid shape in which there are 12 Yankee candles stacked in 3 rows of 4. 
In my design I again use the hexagonal base, however, instead of the form being a long tall tube, it is much shorter and wider. Inside the tea lights are stacked in groups of three in four rows. This design makes it much easier for users to take candles out of the box, and means that, with the larger surface area, the box is more sturdy and will have much less problems with warping or breaking in transit. This box shape also houses much more room than the previous for a product label on the front of the box. 

With the box designs/shapes set in place, Using my small pillar yankee candle and 12 Yankee candle tea lights as references, I made dimensions for both boxes to fit perfectly around both sets of candles. 

Small pillar Yankee candle:

Proportional CAD drawings that show the form, how the box will slot together and the proportions/dimensions of the box and lid:









Set of 12 tea lights:  


Proportional CAD drawings that show the form, how the box will slot together and the proportions/dimensions of the box and lid:







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