Weekly Progress Report

Feedback from Tutor

- Wanted more work on the labelling of the packaging. Idea to emphasise the nutritional value of products through the use of a food pyramid on the outside packaging.
- More graphs in research section needed

Lessons from listening to other Tutors

Research of social issue needs to clearly identify who the target market is and who the packaging solution is going to be aimed at. Use of images to clarify what the text is about and not just placed there with no relevance.

11th Hour

The biggest misunderstanding that we have today is that people think we are apart from nature when in fact we are nature. People believe we are the superior life form on earth therefore we are living in disharmony with nature and mistreating earth. Humans created land, therefore it is easy to think we are smarter and more superior to the land therefore having zero respect for it and we are now paying the price in todays society for how the earth has been treated and abused. 


The comparison that scared me the most in this film was how Earth can soon turn into its sister planet Venus which is the hottest planet and is impossible for human life to live on. This destruction of Earth and its resources really sunk in when this was said. Basically as a designer it is our duty to be responsible for creating products that CAN be recycled and that cause the least amount of pressure on the earth as possible. 

After the Industrial Revolution nature was converted to becoming a resource, and the use of these resources happened at such a rapid pace. With double the amount of technology in todays society and double the power and resources necessary to run and build such products it creates double the destruction on the earth. Society has now come to realise the destruction it has caused to the earth and I feel as designers it is a necessity for us to be socially and environmentally responsible for the products that we place onto the earth. With new products being introduced at a rapid pace it increases global warming and we're continuing what we're doing at an accelerated rate which increases the cause of climate change. 

Three take home messages: 

1. The future of society is in the hands of designers and the ability to create a sustainable society - our generation is the future of society, we have the ability to completely change the world. 

2. Human footprint can be reduced by 90% with the existing technology of society, with further research this could be reduced even more. 

3. The use of materials, production techniques, the way a product works and its product life cycle is now so highly essential to be thought through within todays society as these small changes have such a large impact on the future. 

Draft Rationale Pages

I'm still not entirely happy with the layout of my pages so far and I think I need further information on the research aspect and why my solution is such a necessity. I think I will provide further research pages to explore and convey this further. 

Weekly Progress Report

Rebekah Fraser & Alexander Chittenden

The idea of my social issue was much stronger than my previous solutions for the week before, more work needed on the labelling to make it more child friendly and interactive. Addresses social issue well, although the actual packaging needs to emphasise the necessity of this product and the social issue being addressed more thoroughly.

Feedback from Tutor
- Much stronger social issue addressed
- Further design needed for the way the packaging is used: idea of lego style boxes - makes it more child friendly and fun for them to play with
- Further development into the labelling needed

Lessons from listening to other Tutors
The necessity of every decision that is put into your design cannot just be put there for no reason, each aspect has a need as to why it is placed there.

Weekly Progress Report

Vivian Nguyen & Steven Poyser

After discussing my three ideas with Vivian and Steve they both believed my ideas for toothbrushes were the best as many people struggle with it not just a selected audience. They most liked my idea on being able to reuse the packaging for a travel case.
The second concept that I proposed was not so much a strong idea in regards to the brief, it was surrounded around the idea of Blu-Tak and the way it has no place for storage therefore causing it to constantly get stuck in carpet and hair or just losing it in general causing wastage. I also though that due to it not being packaged so well and people constantly using too much in one go than necessary their needed to be a way to have a portion control system. After discussing this concept and my solution with my peers they believed my solution was too complex for what the problem really was, this made me realise it wasn't such a strong need in order to answering the brief.
The third concept which solved the issue of dog food packaging was voted the weakest concept by my peers, again this didn't have a real issue that was overly problematic therefore it ruled out this concept aswell.

Overall, I knew my concepts were not very strong and I definitely need to think about them further in regards to social issues. After listening in on other tutorial groups and on my own it gave me a clearer understanding of the brief and what is being asked.

Feedback from Tutor

The issues addressed were not very clear social issues, very menial issues that aren't really important to be fixed. Further thought into looking at issues that affect whole societies. Toothbrush solution was most favourable but needs further research and design work.

Lessons from listening to other Tutors

Made the assignment more clear on the higher importance of social issues and allowed me more aware of the possibilities that I can work with.

DISSOLVE Packaging

DISSOLVE from Simon Laliberte on Vimeo.

Giving Packaging a New Life + How it's Made: Packaging

Through watching these videos it has made it clearer to me the extent of the process required for the whole production and recycling process for material manufacturing. I found this information to be a very useful, especially for anyone considering industrial design as a profession; it made me aware of the different materials and the thought process of using each material.

Although glass uses less energy to process than metal and plastic, the energy required for transporting plastic is much less and prevents accidents that happen with glass such as breakages, which would waste time and money.

Watching these videos has made me more aware of what happens to waste once it leaves our homes, I was not so aware of where the actual wastage of things was left if it could not be recycled. It also has made it clearer how aware of wastage and recycling todays society has become in order to become more environmentally friendly.  The whole system of recycling and managing waste continues to improve as our societies technology continues to further advance as materials lifespan continues on till the end of the lifecycle. The video made me visually aware of the process, I had known of some of the processes but had never visually been able to understand how the system proceeded.

The three messages that I think I will most think about now when designing things are:  

1. It is not only the production process that affects the amount of energy used, it is the process of getting it onto the shelves, getting it to the consumer and the maintenance of it till it is needed.

2. The amount of different materials used in production affects the recycling process and consideration of the necessity of these different materials needs to be strongly considered.

3. The use of the different bins when disposing of waste has a large impact on where material waste ends up.

CHOICE Research

CHOICE Magazine have recently implemented a campaign called Pack Attack to stamp out frustrating, difficult and dangerous packaging for consumers.

The most popular so far have been "The Clamshell" which requires scissors to open, "The Glass Jar" which requires a lot of strength and "Imprisoned Toys" which are frustrating and time consuming due to the many wires, cable ties, cardboard and plastic elements.

They also found the most difficult packaging was most problematic for people suffering from arthritis, poor eyesight and reduced hand strength. This led to many consumers suffering from deep cuts, broken or chipped teeth, bruises and broken nails.

Further research is still being conducted which will be interesting to follow through the duration of the assignment and well after.

http://www.foodmag.com.au/news/choice-launches-campaign-against-over-the-top-pack