2012 Galleries

Galleries // 2012 Spark:Communication // Altaz CF6 Stylus Packaging

Altaz CF6 Stylus Packaging

Winner - Gold

Competition: Spark:Communication
Designer: Mr. Benjamin Chia - Chief Creative Officer
Design Type: Communication
Website: http://www.elementaleight.com/

A well-designed product captivates its user, but this often relegates the accompanying packaging to merely a supporting role before it’s quickly discarded. Elemental8's packaging design language for Altaz aims to not only utilize environmentally friendlier materials, but change the end user’s perception of packaging from something they dispose of to something they value. Designed to incorporate materials from 100% post-consumer cardstock, 100% post-consumer PET plastic, and natural twine, Altaz’s packaging for the CF6 stylus strives to be functional and environmentally conscious. But despite these good intentions, the ultimate environmental impact of its packaging hinges on encouraging consumers to actively participate in current best practices. In a Harvard Business School study, The ‘IKEA Effect’: When Labor Leads to Love, researchers found that self-built items, even simple objects like origami, were estimated to have increased in value by its builder. Leveraging that effect, elemental8 devised the concept of incorporating simple instructions for crafty household items that could be fashioned out of the product’s opened packaging. Creating that novel hands-on experience not only introduces the concept of creative reuse to the user, but also augments the packaging’s multiple recycling messages. It is eco-friendly packaging with a purpose. Altaz’s CF6 packaging folds open to reveal printed instructions and guidelines for creating a handy desktop stylus holder out of the packaging cardstock. Following a few steps of easy cut-and-fold instructions without the need for glue or tape, the user now has an extra, unexpected functionality from their purchase and the satisfaction of building something crafty by their own hands. Moving beyond the sole reliance on material makeup to improve eco-friendliness, Altaz’s CF6 stylus packaging increases the perceived value of its accompanying product, while actively encouraging end users to be more considerate about the environmental impact of throwaway packaging. By incorporating this unexpected benefit into Altaz's open-box experience, elemental8 hopes to spur a sense of thoughtful playfulness that will not only positively influence a person’s perspective on product packaging waste, but also imparts that positive notion towards Altaz’s brand as well.