Iron Sustainable Products, Projects and Green Design · 2021
Stripes Packaging Series
- A' Design Award 2021 Iron Winner in Sustainable Products, Projects and Green Design
- Awarded April 15, 2021
- CLIENT: Bergkvist
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 16,384
- Verification code 32775C85BC · Verify this award
About Stripes Packaging Series
The ten packagings in the series are designed to be suitable as gift packagings and to provide a pleasing unboxing experience. Each box has a stripe pattern printed on it, which is repeated on the sleeve that closes the box. The cardboard parts of the box, as well as the sleeve and a brochure, are made of recycled cardboard. A bagasse paper tray is used to protect and present the contents. The complete packagings in this series can be disposed of in paper recycling bins.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Instead of EVA foam, a bagasse paper tray is used here to protect and present the contents. The bagasse is a by-product of the sugarcane industry and the tray can be recycled like regular paper. No magnets are used in the packagings. Instead, a drawer box was created that closes with a paper sleeve. The cardboard parts of the box, as well as the sleeve and a brochure, are made of recycled cardboard. The complete packagings in this series can be disposed of in paper recycling bins.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- External dimensions of a single box, closed: 188 x 137 x 41 mm.
- Tags
- packaging, plastic-free, no plastic, recyclable, recycled, sustainable, sustainability, luxury, pocket knife, cardboard
- Production Technology
- The bagasse paper tray is made from bagasse pulp and dry pressed into its final shape. The main drawer box is made of recycled cardboard, covered with decorative paper. The sleeve and brochure are made of recycled paper. Keeping the entire packaging plastic-free was one of the key objectives in creating a truly sustainable packaging.
- Design Challenge
- It was challenging to find a solution that could be fully disposed of in paper recycling bins. Especially, to find an economically viable and presentable solution that matches the current brand and can be recycled with paper at the same time.
- Project Duration
- The design process started in the end of October 2018 in Berlin. The first version of the product was launched in April 2019 on the German market, with Italy, Spain and France following in the subsequent months.
- Operation Flow
- The ten packagings in the series are designed to be suitable as gift packagings and to provide a pleasing unboxing experience. In order to open a packaging from this series, remove the sleeve and open the drawer box. The brochure and a cloth are now visible. The main product, a folding knife, is wrapped in the cloth. The cotton cloth can be used later for cleaning the knife. Under the brochure, a sharpening stone and sheath are hidden.
- Research
- The brand researched the market and its own current users and found that its folding knives are often purchased as gifts. It identified the importance to offer its folding knives in a relatively luxurious packaging that is suitable to give to someone as a present. Furthermore, for the outdoor brand that takes its mission seriously to reconnect humans with nature, it was obvious that customers share these core values and want to see them reflected in every aspect of the product and packaging.
- Inspiration
- Current packagings for many products, like in this case folding knifes, use EVA foam as a protection material. Even though EVA foam is very suitable, its recycling rate is very low. Often, the foam is glued onto other materials in a packaging and therefore hard to separate for recycling. Rare-earth magnets are used in many packagings as well. The extraction of rare earth elements for these magnets is notoriously linked to environmental pollution. There had to be a way to improve this.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Mission Green Ltd., K29 Packaging #1, 2021.
Image #2: Mission Green Ltd., 3 Packagings #2, 2021.
Image #3: ExpertenTesten.de/ever-growing GmbH, K29 Titanium packaging, 2020.
Image #4: Mission Green Ltd., K29 Packaging Front, 2021.
Image #5: Ridzert Ingenegeren, packaging series overview, 2020. - Patents
- Copyrights belong to Mission Green Ltd., 2019.
Colors of Stripes Packaging Series
Design Interview about Stripes Packaging Series
The idea was to create a packaging series for the Bergkvist knives that is suitable as gift packaging. My client and I also wanted to make it an eco-friendly alternative to many other knife packagings that are currently used on the market.
There were two main focuses, namely to provide an interesting unboxing experience and to create sustainable products.
The packagings are already used for successfully selling knives of the Bergkvist brand. As with other designs I create, it is my wish for the packaging to help my client succeed.
Designing the main concept took less than two months, after which a few months were needed to finalize product development with the manufacturer.
The design was commissioned by Bergkvist. The collaborative approach of my client and me was to find ways to make the packaging more sustainable than previous versions and other products on the market.
The packaging series is being produced by my client in collaboration with a manufacturer.
I looked at the packaging series from the perspective of recycling, combined with using renewable materials. Many packagings that are currently on the market use EVA foam to protect and present the product it carries. EVA foam does its job nicely, but has a low recyclability rate and is often hard to separate from its cardboard packaging. The Stripes packaging series is made 100% recyclable with paper, which means that the packagings can be disposed of in one go in a paper recycling bin. The inner cardboard of the packagings, as well as the brochures that comes with the knives, contain 100% recycled material. Extra care was taken to make the packaging plastic-free.
The Bergkvist brand was the main inspiration for the design. After my client and I had discussed the desired outcome, I designed multiple options that we could choose from. Conversations with the team and manufacturer of my client influenced the design as well.
Everyone who would like to buy a Bergkvist knife. Another part of the target group for the design is someone who wants to give a folding knife to someone else, which is why we made the packagings suitable as gift boxes.
The sustainable aspects: it is 100% recyclable with paper, has recycled materials for the inner cardboard and brochures. It is a plastic-free packaging without EVA foam or magnets.
The name ‘Stripes’ refers to the different stripe patterns on the packagings. Each packaging has a stripe pattern that refers to the form language or style of the knife it contains.
Graphic design software as well as CAD software.
The combination of being an esthetically pleasing gift box while at the same time being easy to recycle.
I collaborated with my client, his team, and the manufacturer to get all the details right.
The conventional way of working with EVA foam as inlay material would have been easier, but we chose for a solution that is recyclable with paper. We compared various materials and arrived at bagasse, which is a type of paper made of waste from the sugarcane industry. The technology for creating a bagasse inlay is vastly different from the technology for creating an EVA foam inlay. Technology plays an important role in this design, because the technological possibilities are directly related to the material.
My client performed market research that led to the start of the design project. On top of that, research into materials that are suitable for paper recycling was done together with the manufacturer.
Challenges were to find the right materials and to eliminate plastic, while at the same time keeping the solution cost efficient.
It would be great if the packaging series could be an inspiration for other people who design packagings or sell products, especially the sustainable aspects. If it would win an award from an international design competition, it should get more exposure and hopefully help with that goal.
Doing something unconventional might take more time and perseverance, but if you handle challenges as a team, you might as well create something big!
Well, if you’d like to develop a new product or packaging, you might want to start by having a look at www.ridzert.com
Grand Interview about Stripes Packaging Series
The research was centered on finding materials that could be recycled together in one go. Many packagings consist of multiple materials that can't be recycled together and this packaging series had to be better than that. EVA foam is a widely used material in knife packagings. It can protect a product well during transport, but it can also pollute paper waste streams if it is not removed properly from a packaging . When researching which materials could actually be recycled with paper, bagasse came up as a great alternative.
The packaging series is a series for 10 different pocket knives. In order to be coherent, I provided all packagings with the same basis: the same dimensions, the same orientation of text and logos and the same background image . Each packaging also has a stripe pattern, but the stripes are different for each knife. The inspiration for the stripes come from the knives. Each stripe pattern is inspired by elements from the knife that's in the packaging. When you remove the sleeve, you'll find that the stripe pattern is repeated on the black box under the sleeve. You'll likely be slightly surprised by the extra details that were hidden under the sleeve. The strong contrast of the silver, gold, or red stripes on the black background enhances the anticipation of holding and using the new knife.
In order to create a sustainable packaging, it would be logical to design a packaging that is as small as possible and that maybe has a second function like being a sleeve for the knife. However, the insight that you mention made my client and me develop a packaging that is not only logical, but also emotional. We decided to make the packaging slightly larger in order to improve the unboxing experience and to make it more luxurious. In terms of sustainability, we focused on the end-of-life of the packaging by making it suitable for recycling in one go. We also used recycled cardboard and bagasse, which is a by-product of the sugar cane industry.
The main challenge in that regard was to find a solution that could keep the packagings closed during transport and would look good too. Instead of using stickers or magnets, decorative and functional sleeves keep the packagings closed. They keep the drawer boxes from opening until they are removed manually.
It's very kind of you to say that. Having a slightly larger packaging than absolutely necessary helps in increasing the perceived value and therefore making it more luxurious. I balanced this with sustainable qualities by choosing recycled cardboard, bagasse as by-product from another industry and by ensuring that the packaging can be recycled in one go.
Using a paper sleeve is not a completely new idea, but many packagings do have magnets where they do not necessarily add a lot of value to the packaging. When setting up the direction for this packaging series, I decided early that magnets should not be used in order to reduce the amount of materials in the packaging. By discussing the packaging structure with various stakeholders , the solution of using a paper sleeve emerged.
The core values helped with having the focus on sustainability from the start of the packaging development process. Reconnecting with nature and sustainability go hand in hand.
To meet varying preferences, the aim was to make the design unobtrusive. By designing something unobtrusive, the chances increase to make it appeal to a wide range of people. My client and I made sure that packagings adhered to the requirements that needed to be met in all countries it would be sold in.
I see this packaging series as part of a larger trend, since many packagings are evolving in directions that make them more suitable for recycling. Often, fewer types of different materials are used in a packaging than before and packagings are becoming easier to disassemble. It would be great if the Stripe Packaging Series influences people to create sustainable packagings.
My advice would be to start with sustainability in mind. Strive to create a minimal packaging with a low environmental footprint. Think of what would happen with the packaging once it is disposed of. See if you can make the packaging part of a circular economy, for example by using materials that are recycled and that can be recycled again.