Assignment #5:
REVERSE DESIGN-
“Making as thinking as making”
The Design Process book, by Karl Aspelund.
The seven design stages
1-Inspiration
2-Identification
3- Conceptualization
4- Exploration/Refinement
5- Definition/Modeling
6- Communication
7- Production
Objectives:
Discover the design decisions of a device, object or system through observation and analysis of its structure, history, and operation. Help deduce design decisions from the end of production with little or additional knowledge about the procedures involved in the original production. You will design the device, object or system to meet the needs of a user or response to their critical analysis of the original design. Use a ‘The design journal’ (sketchbook, or digital file)
- Select an object: Milk Box, You would like to redesign/make/use.
- Imaging the creation of the final designed object in its reverse construction stage.
- Ask questions as follow:
Stage 7:
PRODUCTION
The creation of the final designed object in its construction stage.
Tetra pack is mainly made out of paper and plastics, and at its construction stage, it needs to be free of any chemicals that could potentially ruin the milk, while on its outside should be strong enough to protect the milk as well as the usually aesthetically pleasing container.
The production stage of a milk box usually is one of the most power/fuel/ electricity required stages. Lots of wood logs need to be cut and transported to make tetra packs and the power needed, including the industry machinery needs enormous quantities of electricity, something that in the long run will not be sustainable. In today’s age, we can’t afford to continue exploiting natural resources and start manufacturing recycle waste to be reused again, even to package food and liquids. The production of the tetra pack itself is very innovative and technological, from revolutionary machinery that packs and transport the materials to the fast apparatuses that molds and prints the design of the box.
The main issues in the construction and production are probably between machinery and human labor, yet, most of the work is done by robots and machines. Working with high technological machinery, there are two problems that needed to be addressed: How much energy they take to perform and if the cost of maintaining them is more efficient than human labor. Overall, the designer should be aware of what finishes is the milk box going to have, aesthetically wise, knowing the boundaries that the logo printers, machinery, and the materials.
Stage 6:
COMMUNICATION
As the milk would be boxed on tetra pack the models I would present to the production team would be made out of cardboard or thick paper. I would approach my design in the most ergonomic and minimalistic way. For the Logo, milk would be printed n black bold letters, while the box itself would be strong enough to preserve the milk, yet not unnecessarily extra thick, I would use as least resources as I could.
The features I would like to highlight maybe even on the publicity is how sustainable a milk box can be, if possible, the milk carton would be made of recycled plastic or cardboard, yet I would really like to make it efficiently biodegradable. If the box cannot be reused or recycled then I would focus on making sure that the box itself can disintegrate, work as a natural compost or be biodegradable. As a designer, I would prioritize and put much investigation on the materials rather than the design of the logo, as first I would need to make sure how the material would make the product look, and then proceed to design the prints on it based on its first plain look. The samples I would present would vary on different sustainable materials I could use and by that experiment with the shape of different materials and logos, It would be made by hand but also computer-generated on different scales. (For different sizes of milk boxes, as buying a big container of milk would be more economical and more sustainable as buying little containers of milk every time creates much more waste.)
Stage 5:
DEFINITION AND MODELLING
Stage 4:
EXPLORATION AND REFINEMENT
If I would simplify a milk box on its basic state would either be a round glass container, traditionally delivered to houses, or rectangular cardboard box, usually displayed using that model on supermarkets. ON the exploration phase, the object would start to lose its identity mainly on the design of the outside logo and prints of the box, for example, the juice is also sold on the same rectangular cardboard box, yet costumers differentiate it all based on the branding and nutritional information displayed on the box. Usually, milk is associated with brownish and light blue colors yet, using very vibrant colors or no colors at all would work to call the attention of the consumer.
Stage 3:
CONCEPTUALIZATION
WHAT IS MILK?
Stage 2:
IDENTIFICATION
- I designed a sustainable container for milk. The container is made of nonchemical products, cane sugar, and wood fibers. On a more personal note, the milk I would sell would come from a plant-based source such as almonds, quinoa or soy.
- Its nature of milk is a nutrient-rich, white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of the cows. The containers’ function is to provide a strong container to transport milk not only maintain and preserve it, but to keep the milk from spilling and be as weightless as possible for transportation of the costumers.
- The target markets are local supermarkets or big storage supplies while the audience targeted is of any age.
- Milk, either plant-based or not is crucial for bone development and maintaining healthy nutrition. The solution my designs bring is to make the container either reusable or biodegradable as many resources are wasted on its production.
- Making a more sustainable model or choosing the right materials would create a huge impact on other products as more brands and products would adopt this new way of packaging, not only for a greener environment.
- This is interesting because being environmentally friendly is one another way to gain popularity amongst consumers. A challenge on this would require studies on different possible designs for sustainable packaging of liquids.
- The first step I would need is funding for the new research on materials that could be used on the packaging. Then I will start prototyping all materials possible, make a society study, children’s desires on taste and aesthetics and finally start selling the product with a strong branding and marketing campaign.
