22/05/2025-15/06/2025 (Week 5-Week 8)
Lizzie Tanaka (0362065)
Packaging
and Merchandising Design | BDCM | Taylor's University
Task 2: Custom Box
Design
LECTURE
Week 5
Fig 1.1 Week 5 Lecture
In week 5, we learned about how packaging and branding works
together.
The importance of packaging and branding in business
- Attracts attention and differentiate from competitors
- Builds brand identity and recognition
- Communicates brand message
- Influences consumer perception
- Supports marketing and promotion
Consistency in Packaging and Branding
- Leads to brand recognition
- Repetition draws customers
Differentiation Through Packaging and Branding
- Unique Design Elements
- Creative Messaging
- Customization and Personalization
- Sustainability
Emotional Appeal through Packaging and Branding
- Color psychology
- Imagery & graphics
- Brand storytelling
- Personalization
Week 6
This week, Mr. Shamsul taught us an intro to shelf display.
Fig 1.2 Week 6 Lecture
P.O.P - Point of Purchase display: Printed advertising display items that helps product stand out. The display should complement the current campaign and to show the packaging in its best light.
Sample of P.O.P display:
1. Shelf Talkers: Signs attached to a shelf ledge.
2. Wobblers: Tags stuck to shelves/other surface. Also called shelf talkers/product talkers.
3. High-back Countertop P.O.P
4. Tall-back Floor-standing P.O.P or Floor Standee
5. Window Displays: Increases the interests of passerby to buy the product on display.
6. Floor Sticker: Rarely used thus it's very effective.
Week 7
Mr. Shamsul demonstrated to us how to operate the laser-cutting machine.
INSTRUCTIONS
For task 2, we're tasked to create a 2 custom boxes design for 2 items of
our choice. The items need to be around the size of 15-20cm and should not
come in a box.
The items I chose were a hat & a hair oil refill in a plastic pouch
packaging. I brought the items to class for approval and Mr. Shamsul approved
of the hat. The hair oil refill however, he suggested to pair it up as a
bundle. I wanted to do bundle it with a comb but since I have the actual hair
oil in plastic bottle, I decided to bundle them together.
Sketching & Idea
On week 6, we proceeded to sketch our packaging idea. I began by finding some
inspiration and then sketched out the ones I think would work.
Fig 2.1 Inspiration
Fig 2.2 Sketch
For the hat packaging, idea #1 is a box that opens from the top
where the two closing tabs kinda meet each other in the center. Then I thought
of idea #2 which is a regular box but there's a circle-shaped-ish
structure in the middle of it to hold the hat. Idea #3 is also a
pull-out box from the side. Mr. Shamsul ended up asking me to think about the
packaging more and especially try to incorporate windows to it. He referenced
New Era's gift box for their caps that are sold separately.
For bundle packaging, idea #1 is the usual box that has a box insert in
it to fit the 2 items. Idea #2 is similar except it's a tray inside a
pull-out box from the side. The tray will hold 2 separate boxes, one for each
item. He approved of idea #2.
Dieline & Prototype
In the following week, we proceeded with our dielines in Adobe Illustrator.
Here's my first dieline.
Fig 3.1 Dieline #1
For the hat, I decided to do a packaging like the last picture in Fig 2.2 except a bit shorter and not exactly a square since it'll be too tall and
too big for the hat.
Before immediately doing the laser-cut, I decided to do some prototypes. I
first wanted to test out if all the measurements are accurate and if the box
would actually work. I printed my dielines on A3 printer paper to be
quicker.
a. Hat
Fig 3.2 Hat packaging on printer paper
Fortunately, this one had only minor issues such as the locking tabs not
positioned correctly thus it wouldn't hook. I also accidentally cut the tab
that was supposed to hook. The front part of it was also too tall so the box
wouldn't close accurately.
b. Bundle
Fig 3.3 Printer paper prototype
As seen, there were quite a lot of beginner mistakes that went unchecked
digitally. For example, the tray was way too big for the boxes. A lot of the
measurements were not equal on the sides of the boxes, resulting in the
sides not meeting each other thus the boxes failed.
Fortunately, the tray actually fit into the outer box sizing.
Fig 3.4 The bundle packaging in paper
After I tried this prototype, I realized that my dieline for the two boxes
and the tray isn't too good and it won't be as strong durable. Mr. Shamsul
also pointed out that my tray should be double reinforced. I wasn't sold on
my dieline for the outer box as well so I ended up changing my dieline.
Fig 3.5 Dieline #2
Laser Cutting
Throughout the process of laser cutting, I went through 5 days of trials and
errors.
a. Hat Packaging
The hat packaging succeeded in 2 laser cuts. The first attempt failed
because of the hook being incorrectly positioned (again) and I was confused
on which part to cut to form the right tab. I also figured that the folded
lid (the window part that's folded) should be a bit longer because the first
attempt had me forcing it to make the tab meet the slot.
With this, I made the edits on my dieline and laser-cut it once again.
Fortunately, it succeeded and was able to hook perfectly and stayed. I glued
a clear PVC sheet for the window part.
Fig 4.1 Hat Packaging Process
b. Bundle
Before my laser cut, I decided to do a boxboard prototype of my double
reinforcement boxes and dieline. I tried 2 choices; the tuck in boxes and
the ones that close outside.
Fig 4.2 Double reinforcement dieline prototype
Fig 4.3 Boxes prototype on boxboard
The bundle stressed me out for 5 days because I kept on changing the
dielines and failing the measurements. I also failed to consider that a
boxboard is very thin compared to a 5mm corrugated cardboard, which made the
folds harder to do and ensure it's accurate. It also meant a lot of space
inside was taken by the thickness and the folds & the size of the
packaging was slightly bigger because of the cardboard thickness. This is
basically why I struggled.
1st Attempt:
On my first attempt, the measurements were quite accurate but the folding
tabs on the double reinforcement part was too short (didn't account for the
thickness of the cardboard). Thus, it cannot hook on the slot at all. I
actually also thought of just gluing this part but decided against it. The
tray was too small to fit the two boxes and I made a mistake on the outer
box.
The outer box had wrong measurements so there was just a big gap on where it
should meet on the opposite side. However, with this attempt, I knew what I
needed to make sure the next time I laser cut.
I actually modified a lot to test out my next ideas which is why my box
looks messy. For this one, another problem was that the closing tab on the
side didn't have any space to slot in so the box couldn't be closed at all.
So I had an idea to make the box close by tucking in the closing tab instead
(I trimmed of the excess cardboard).
Fig 4.4 1st Attempt on bundle packaging
2nd Attempt
The next day, I attempted my second one with the 1st attempt's idea. It
worked, only that this time the tray still didn't fit and won't stick
(probably with how thick the cardboard was). I also just realized here that
I made the dieline of the outer box. The correct one is that the shorter
side should be the opening because the tray should be pulled out from its
shorter sides.
Fig 4.5 2nd attempt on bundle packaging
On the third day of my laser cutting attempt, I ran out of cardboards and
was not going to spend more money on Grab to the art store. I decided to
find a nearby art store and found one. However, the cardboards they sell is
a bit thinner at 3mm (the first one was 5mm). I find that working with this
thinner one is a lot easier but I (again) failed to account that my dieline
wouldn't work as nicely.
I had been editing my dielines to make it quite bigger to accommodate the
5mm thickness but the new cardboard made the measurements too big and the
boxes became loose. I also decided to make the boxes close by tucking in but
because it's too loose, it won't stay and I had to tape it. I also,
unfortunately, measured the outer box incorrectly again. Since I had many
changes on the size itself, sometimes I forgot to change one of the tabs :')
Overall, this one seemed a bit more successful because I could finally walk
home carrying just one box instead of 4 separate boxes.
Fig 4.6 3rd attempt on bundle packaging
4th Attempt
By the 4th day, I had only 1 more session of laser cutting left until the
deadline and unfortunately I still had repetitive minor mistakes :') It
felt like no matter how much I ensured the dieline was accurate, it
wasn't.
On this attempt, I honestly wanted to make the box close outside like
those usual double reinforcement boxes and I was determined to do it. So I
changed my dieline again and laser cut the new one.
Unfortunately it failed. The side tabs on the double reinforcement were
too loose (4D) and at this point I still didn't register why. It could
close, at least, but the closing tab was too short that it didn't really
cover the entire front side and I had to force it a lot to close
(4C).
I decided to modify the box a bit and see how it looks like if it was
tucked in to close instead. I saw that it worked really well and was
perfect (from the outside) (4E). But the loose hooks on the double
reinforcement part was itching me to redo the laser cut.
Fortunately, here, the outer box was nearly perfect. It just needed
less space on the sides of the tray. The tray worked perfectly and the
boxes fit nicely. It was tight but wasn't difficult to get the boxes
out.
Fig 4.7 4th attempt on bundle packaging
I could've just said that the 4th attempt was done but I really wanted the
double reinforcement part to hook and stay in place without coming off
once I opened the box. I decided to re-do the 2 boxes instead and the
outer box. I was quite pessimistic since I only had 1 more A0 board left
(meaning I could only do 4 times) and I don't want to spend even more
money anymore :D
Honestly, the box was supposed to be a fail because I finally realized
that the reinforcement part was too long. My box's depth was 5.5cm but the
double tabs was 6cm each. It was way too long and would create extra space
which made the side tabs of the box have loose space to come out. My
cardboard has no more space for more laser cut so I modified by trimming
the excess length and making the locking tab myself. It finally worked (as
seen in the 4th picture of the picture below) on the refill box. However,
I cut the excess tab too much on the hair oil box (3rd picture below) and
so the hook wouldn't meet the slot.
With 2 laser cut attempt left, I took the risk and edited my box dieline
and laser cut the new one. Fortunately, it worked well and I used the last
space on my cardboard to laser-cut the outer box (which was also
successful, thankfully).
Fig 4.8 5th attempt on bundle packaging
At the end of this task, I managed to record and keep the major changes of
my dielines (top left area) and my mess of the Illustrator file.
Fig 4.9 Process & AI file
Final Result
Fig 5.1 Final Hat Packaging
Fig 5.2 Final Hat Packaging #2
Fig 5.3 Final Bundle Packaging
FEEDBACKS
Week 5
- Hat is good to go, but the refill pouch wouldn't work. It's designed to
stand and so without a box it'll be fine. It wouldn't work unless you
make it into a bundle with another item. Dieline is good to
go.
Week 6
- Should put a structure for the hat
- Do double reinforcement for the sides of the tray
- Can use a foam to make the inserts
Week 7
- If you fold the hat, then no need the structure to hold it
upright.
REFLECTIONS:
Experience:
Overall a very stressful experience. It started out okay and interesting and the progress was a bit slow. I was confident with my idea and I had a lot of ideas. Learning how to use the laser cutting machine was probably the most intriguing part of this task. I believe that it's a knowledge that would become useful later on.
However, since I never actually tried to create a real-sized and accurately measured packaging and bring it to life, this was so difficult to get it right. It wasn't the big mistakes that had me going insane but the tiny minor stuffs that I should've gotten right and the mistakes that kept on repeating in every attempt. It was so different than just designing surface design on mockups because I don't have to care if the product actually fits. This one however, I had to make sure everything fitted and worked perfectly. Nobody warned me the amount of money I'd be spending on cardboards too so that was a surprise :D
Nonetheless, I do think that this project taught me a lot of things and from my mistakes I really did gain a lot of knowledge about packaging. From the ideating, creating die line, and bringing it to life. Honestly too, I'm not too satisfied with my final result as I think it could've been more creative and out of the box but I think for a first-timer I did quite well.
Observations:
I observed that bringing a packaging design and idea to life isn't so easy after all. There's a lot to consider such as the safety of the product itself, the trials and errors and all that. I also observed that the details in the dieline really played a big part and one failed detail means the packaging wouldn't work as nicely as it should.
Findings:
I find that packaging design isn't as simple as it looks. It requires a lot of creativity and details that one needs to pay attention to. It takes a lot to make a successful packaging.
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