Book Box Book 2015 Aalto University Pack-Age Project Report
Development
Book Box Book
2015 Aalto University Pack-Age Project Report
They succeed, because they think they can. — Virgil
Table Of Contents Introduction The Team The Brief
The Existing Market Development Progress The First Meeting The One and Only Crisis Meeting Eija Jokela; Getting The Brief Late Evening Meeting 1st Intern Critique
Introduction
From the left: Tatu Laakso Terhi Isokuortti Sara Ceccherini An-Ting Din Anc Ciechanowicz Eriko Ishii
The Team Five women and one man merged into a strong team called Tatu & the Girls. From the very beginning the team played well together in an unified, democratic way and in good spirit. This name was chosen to make Tatu – who missed the first week of the course – feel as welcome as possible. All six members of the team came from very different backgrounds. In the end, what seemed a challenge, proved to be a huge advantage.
Anc Ciechanowicz
Sara Ceccherini
An Aalto University MA Graphic Design student, volunteered as project manager. Her role turned out a true blessing for the output of the team.
Majoring in bioproduct technology at Aalto School of Chemistry was the mastermind of materials. Sara was able to make a great use of Otaniemi labs so the boxes could be tested.
An-Ting Din studies graphic design at National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan and is in exchange at Aalto Arts. From early on An-Ting was in charge of photographing and collecting material. Finally, she was working on compiling a favourable report.
Eriko Ishii An exchange student from Musashino Art University in Japan, studies Philosophy of Design. Her input in the structure of the box and her folding knowledge proved to be significant.
Tatu Laakso A packaging design student from Lahti Institute of Design, reinforced the team with his know-how of the field. Tatu was in charge of the structural issues.
Terhi Isokuortti An Aalto University MA Fashion and Collection Design student with a background in textile and surface design was responsible for creating tempting patterns for the package. She also managed to keep up a positive atmosphere even in darkest moments of the project.
The Brief Our client was Suomen Aaltopahviyhdistys, Sapy ry (the Finnish Corrugated Cardoard Association). The members of Sapy are Stora Enso Packaging Oy and DS Smith Packaging Finland Oy. The goal of the assocation is to promote the usage and inform about the benefits of corrugated cardboard. The brief in a very concice form was to create a gift package for Finnish e-commerce.
During the brief a series of key points were listed:
To rethink the postal package where the products are delivered. To create a unique, personal experience. To deliver love and warmth even when there is a distance between the sender and the receiver. To design a package that is as much a surprise as the gift inside. To make people want to buy and send more gifts and consequently boost e-commerce in Finland. To uplift a box of corrugated cardboard into a desired and most amazing box.
Given the very open brief nothing was set except the material, which for obvious reasons was corrugated cardboard. We had to follow the restrictions of the main postal service in Finland, Posti, but other than that we had
no limitations. Since we were not asked to design for any specific webstore or company, the products that we were packaging could be anything. We did, however, take into account, that the most popular e-commerce product categories are fashion, electronics and books and that women over 25 are the most active online shoppers. Halfway throught the project we did get some specifications. With the approval of our client, we decided for books and to designate our product for e-bookstores. Narrowing down the products made the process a lot easier. Our client also kept asking us to be bold and not restricted by possible technical issues. We decided to embrace the project as a dream: What kind of a package would we ourselves like to receive? However, concentrating on the receiver was not enough. We had to consider also the buyers: the stores to buy the package for their selection. The package should create a unique experience in the hands of the user, but also attract attention when seen on the website. The package should be interesting but also a realistic and functional option for the store. Our brief didn’t include terms or restrictions related to the costs of manufacturing. Therefore we decided by ourselves that this package could cost 2-3 euros more than the average package.
The Existing Market
The Existing Market The market for online gift boxes is quite limited. Currently most of the gifts arrive in a modest brownish corrugated carboard package surrounded by plastics and tapes. Often plastic chips are used to protect the goods. Some stores, such as Amazon, do have a gift wrapping service that packs nicely, but in the end shoves the product in the ordinary post package. We aimed to create a package that would feel and look special inside out. As Terhi so maturely pointed out, it would be nice to have a package that makes people jealous when they see you carrying it home from the post office. However, there are some companies that provide, both concept and/or designwise different solutions.
 REPACK  More than beautiful and amazing packages, this Finnish company aims for sustainability. The key concept of their packages is reusability. Once the goods have been ordered on-line and received the customer returns the empty package via local post. In return, the customer is awarded with a voucher. http://www.originalrepack.com
MYSUGARBOX.COM My sugar box is a monthly subscription to makeup products. The content and the package try to communicate to the buyer that the service is not a waste of money. The target group includes mainly young women. The design of the is feminine, simple, fresh and delicate. It has a small theme printed on both outer and inner sides of the corrugated cardboard package with a peachcolored sleeve with logo and some extra messages. http://www.mysugarbox.com
THEBRIDEBOX.COM The bride box is a monthly subscription for brides delivered directly to the customers’ home for surprising her. The bride sends herself these goods to feel cuddled and gratified. But is the pattern surprising enough to make the experience different? http://www.thebridebox.com
  LUCKY DIP CLUB  Lucky Dip Club is an English on-line serivice specialized in personalized packages filled with surprises. Each month it proposes a limited amount of available gifts of a new theme (e.g. in May 2015 the Vintage Village Fete theme). The content is never luxurious, in fact it usually consists of small flee market type goods. http://www.luckydipclub.com
Development Progress
The First Meeting 2nd March The first group meeting set the atmosphere for the whole PackAGE process. Right in the beginning it was emphasized that the team will have to be aware of the cultural background and therefore – differences. We decided to be honest and open about the things that bother us. Only one team member remained misterious – Tatu with his broken leg. Before we all met, five out of six team members decided the name of the team: Tatu and the girls. The name was supposed to be temporary, but sticked and gave our team a wonderful and less serious approach to make the dream project come true.
The One And Only Crisis 3rd March Being only three of us, Sara, Terhi and Anc, we had a chance to discover that we indeed have strong women in our team. Luckily we could learn a lot from this lesson and‌ It never happened again. This day was also important from the project management point of view. The team set up the rules of working. What would happen if somebody is not present, how we talk about things and the way we will try to solve problems.
Meeting Eija Jokela; Getting The Brief 6th March Now that we received the task the good spirit of the group had to transform it into actual doing. Finding answers to many little questions helped to understand the brief. At this stage the team clarified its position in the chain of stakeholders and found out who, in fact, the customer is, who buys the package, who the receiver is. The team got deeper into cardboard. After that, corrugated cardboard never was just a corrugated cardboard. The choice of the appropriate corrugated cardboard for a specific purpose depends on the requirements and functions of the final product. No material is perfect for all purposes. Thus, the team started looking for a material that would meet for all requirements considered necessary. Our material needed to be strong to ensure protection of the content; stable, appealing, storable, traceable and, eventually, reusable. The package had to arrive safely into the receiver’s hands, but it also had to be customizable to provide the best aesthetical appearance.
Why corrugated cardboard such an interesting material?
It allows many different structural designs. It has great mechanical properties. It´s strength and quality-price ratio is outstanding. It can be collapsed and collected after use. It is composed of renewable resources. It is recyclable and atleast theoretically reusable.
Late Evening Meeting 24th March During the late meeting the team worked on the most crazy conceptsm of the postal package. We discussed the way of delivery, the meaning of the “the wow effect� and how to combine different ideas into pausible scenarios.
1st Intern Critique 26th March The team showed the concepts and ideas, that we created during the first month and the presentation went very well. It was important for the team to understand the different viewpoints of the package: between the stakeholders. We realized we were not only designing for SAPY, but also for the e-commerce, for the gift buyer, for postal services logistics and, finally, for the receiver. The brainstormed ideas were divided into three cathegories defined as: 1) the buying moment, 2) the opening moment and 3) the reuse aspect. We also understood the importance of the marketing ideas, as one of the main points of the brief was to boost the e-commerce in Finland.
I am right here – concept I
Buying Moment: The buyer is able to customize color, pattern, tekst, upload private photos to be printed on the box by provider, e-commerce shop.
Opening Moment: The buyer and the receiver share the opening moment. They can open the box “together” – during a video call.
Reuse: For adult receiver: a photoframe from the packaging (photo chosen by buyer, printed by e-commerce). For juvenile or kid: toy; memory game, telephone cut-out or computer cut-out.
Kid – concept II
Buying Moment: The buyer would probably be an adult (grandma, aunt, …?). Possible personalization to some extend.
Opening Moment: Should be playfull. Maybe connected to some game or it should be possible to tear out some parts of the box.
Reuse: This box could be turned into game, memory game, toy house, height measure, hopscotch game, Christmas decoration.
Smiling moment – concept III BUYING MOMENT: More limited. The Buyer has a few options to choose from but all options come with a high-end luxury feeling.
OPENING MOMENT: An elegant and thrilling surprise. The shape of the package is relatively usual but the materials and the finish are sublime. The package has several and different layers and can contain short messages to the receiver.
REUSE: The package offers an easy and elegant way to remember the giver. After the opening experience the receiver finds yet another surprise, a postcard that says a nice greeting. The buyer/sender does not know anything about this card, but if you want to remember him/her, write and send a greeting (post fee already paid).
Grandma – concept IV BUYING MOMENT: Present bought by a young(er) person (sender) for an older person (receiver). Optional patterns for both inside and outside.
OPENING MOMENT: The box should be easy to open, give a warm haptic experience and possibly a pleasant, perhaps familiar or traditional scent. Optimally, the box would recollect a fond memory.
REUSE: As a beautiful storage box.
I know you! – concept V BUYING MOMENT: The concept puts an emphasis on the buying moment. The buyer can personalize the box to a great extent e.g. by answering questions about the receiver.
OPENING MOMENT: The receiver opens the package with a feeling of something prepared especially for him/her offering a very special moment – one of it’s kind.
REUSE: The box could have personal cut-out elements or it could allow the receiver to turn the box into an object: an animal figure, Christmas decoration, pen holder.
Anc Ciechanowicz An-Ting Din Eriko Ishii Sara Ceccherini Tatu Laakso Terhi Isokuortti
Book Box
Book Box Book
2015 Aalto University Pack-Age Project Report
They succeed, because they think they can. — Virgil
Table Of Contents A Book Box 2nd Meeting With The Client Media Factory Workshop 2nd Intern Critique Client’s Comments Lahti Day Musikkitalo Meeting Another Lahti Day
Technical Infomation Cardboard Book Box Size Impact Tests In Otaniemi Mock-ups Impersonal Giving Colours And Pattern Birthday Test Posti Test
The Book Box Thank you
2nd Meeting With The Client 15th of April After hearing the client’s comments about the 1st presentation, the team could move forward and decide that the gift postal box is for a book. The decision helped us a lot and gave a direction.
Why was the book great for our project? The book seemed still a very popular present. In fact, it is a top e-commerce purchase along with clothes and electronics. For the project is was necessary to find a product to focus on. At the same time our team still believes the box can easily be extended to some other products as it has an adjustable inner part. The books are also good presents as people still give them for Christmas, Easter, Valentines Day and also very popular International Book Day.
Media Factory Workshop 20th April Tatu and the grils met in the Media Factory. Everybody was assigned to design one box. The one that seemed to be her or his favourite one. On a work session at the Media Factory each team member was assigned to design one box representing his/her favourite box.
2nd Intern Critique 24th April The team presented how it came to the conclusion of designing a gift box for a book and showed the work from the Media Factory workshop. Very valuable comments from the teachers and the peers helped us a lot. We were ready to move forward. We combined all ideas from the critique, resulted with three boxes and prepared to test them in Lahti.
Client’s Comments 6th May We have received very encouraging comments about all of our 2nd critique concepts from our client. The summary made us going forward:
“The idea that box contains bookmark is very good and I would like to see it in the “end product” as well. I would also like to see these boxes with sleeve that is removable and used for stamps and other postal marks etc.”
Lahti Day 8th May We created the first real box mock-ups. The feedback made us more confident about the decisions we soon needed to make. We could feel which of our structures gives a wow effect, which is more efficient from the production point of view and what kind of emotions people feel when opening our box.
Musikkitalo Meeting 12th May After having the second round of comments from the client and with the mock-ups ready, the team met to make a final decision. Since this moment the team split. Every member started working separately on a specific part of the box. An-Ting got the task of designing the report. Terhi was asked to create some written part for the
report as well as to create the patterns that should be printed on the box. Tatu and Eriko were assigned to finish the box structure.
They promised to push their limits to make the most amazing box in the world. Sara scheduled the box testing dates. She also delivered
technical cardboard info to prove we had made the right choice of the material. Anc had to fix the project plan, manage everybody’s
schedule for May, and write part for the report.
Another Lahti Day 15th of May The emphasis was put on the wow effect above of all functional acpects although the usability was given great importance, too. During the day we printed the patterns for the box and we assembled the mock-ups in three sizes. Would the box survive the typical impacts of
Technical Infomation
Cardboard Single–face corrugated board Corrugated paper glued to one sheet on linerboard, usually used as a spacer inside packages.
Double–face corrugated board Linerboard glued on both the sides, used for the biggest part of corrugated board products.
Double–wall corrugated board Made with 3 or more layers of linerboards separated by layers of corrugated medium. It can have 2 different size of flutes: the smaller flute is usually toward the outside of the box in order to provide a better printing surface and puncture resistance.
Fig. – Structures of corrugated cardboard a) Single–face corrugated cardboard. b) Double– face corrugated cardboard. c) Double–wall corrugated cardboard.The size of the flutes is important, because it affects the properties of cardboard. Generally speaking, small flutes are easy to print and have high puncture resistance, whereas large one are characterized by high stacking strength. These flutes are divided into several categories. Among the main ones there are:
A flutes
Compression resistant and fragile products protective B flutes Crush resistant, strong at the score line, easily foldable, neat looking. C flutes Economic compromise between A and B with quite good stacking strength E flutes With excellent printing surface and good compressive strength.
These flute categories can be mixed to get better results, in fact the proprierties given by the flutes do not depend only upon their dimensions, but also their distribution, their direction and their integrity. If the load direWction is parallel to corrugation, the board provides the maximum stacking strength.
The Book Box Size The size question was very difficult to answer as a book can have any size, any thickness, any cover… We decided on two sizes: a) most popular book sizes b) the Posti Smart box sizes in Finland (maximum size: 600 x 600 x 360 mm; minumum size: 250 x 150 x 30 mm).
Depending on the country, the most popular book sizes differ. It is also not easy to define the book sizes sold in Finland, as the data either does not exist or is not easily accessible. The team made the decision to make three sizes of boxes each will to fit two possible book sizes: B-size (as a basic dimensions) and A-size.
The box B6 – 125x176 mm will fit A6 – 105×148 mm The box B5 – 176x250 mm will fit A5 – 148×210 mm The box B4 – 250x353 mm will fit A4 – 297x210 mm
Having knowledge about the content of the box – the most popular book sizes, we had to decide about the outer size of the boxes. We based our decision on Posti minimum and maximum SMARTpost boxes that can be sent within Finland.
Maxium size 600 x 600 x 360 mm Minium size 200 x 150 x 30 mm
Impact Tests In Otaniemi Once the models of the boxes were available it was decided to subject them to impact tests. Although no statistically reliable evaluation was possible with only a few samples the test showed useful information. Three sizes of the same model of box were tested: small, medium and large. They were filled with books of 560 g, 580 g and 1685 g. All the boxes were thrown from a height of 1.90 m. Each box was given one impact on the bottom and another on the side. Both the small and medium size box resisted the impacts well: only little damage occurred. The large box, however, didn’t stand the impacts on the side but opened partially and the sides cracked. None of the boxes were provided with tape. The side being weaker than the cover, lateral tape might decrease the risk of the closure to open.
Mock-ups Before the final production, team members visited Lรถnnberg to create blanco prototypes. Thanks to professional help and advice, we could finally see three boxes working the way they should.
B4 – Small Box
B5 – Middle Box
B6 – Big Box
Impersonal Giving Giving a present is a personal experience. In most cases people still give those in person. From this point of view, the idea of e-commerce gift giving seems very cold. The aim of the team was, therefore, to minimize the distance between the giver and the receiver. Having many ideas at the beginning of the process, we had to make a reasonable choice. Is it possible to track the package and have video chat while opening the box? How much can our box be personalised and still be easy to assemble at the e-commerce shop?
  Postal Sticker  While making a purchase at e-commerce shop, the buyer may add special wishes. Even the postal element is designed to give the receiver a feeling of being special.
  Pop-up Card  Opening the unexpected, but still casual, postal package, the receiver is given the next surprise element. Within the colourful pattern there is the card in the pop-up structure. It tells, how special the receiver is.
  Thank You Card  The card is the last surprise element. It is a secret element placed in the bottom of the box. It has the postal stamp paid and the book receiver can easily send the greetings back. If he/she does, the new receiver could possibly get not only the surprise, but also e-commerce discount for the next purchase.
Colours And Pattern Because we wanted to make the opening and receiving moments as precious as possible, we chose a pattern that we felt would support that experience. At first our plan was to have several options, but due to some timing issues we ended up having one in three different colours. We chose a powerful, yet abstractive pattern that we believed would please different tastes. Our goal was throughout the process to make the receiver feel loved and the gift feel as valuable and special as it would if it was given face to face. The diamond-like visuals also inspired the sentences on the cards. Looking back, had we know all along that there would be only one pattern, we gone for another one. However, we felt that the chosen pattern worked very nicely with the pop up structure and was a good way show the potential of the whole package. The package and the pattern both had elegance, style and character, and we all liked that.
Outside: 6C 13M 17Y 19K
Frame: 75C 0M 35Y 0K
Inside: 50C 90M 40Y 25K
Outside: 6C 13M 17Y 19K
Frame: 46C 66M 0Y 0K
Inside:16C 10M 80Y 0K
Outside: 6C 13M 17Y 19K
Frame: 95C 65M 40Y 25K
Inside: 6C 0M 74Y 0K
Birthday Test The Girls decided to prepare a special testing of the box. We wanted to see if the box still makes the wow-effect, even if we are so close to the project. Luckily, one of our team member had his birthday... Instead of packing the book, which would be expected, we decided to pack all kinds of candies. The end result was Tatu’s surprise by getting the box he designed with the very special content. It has proven, that we can pack other things inside.
Posti Test The blanco box made in Lahti was sent by Posti to one of our team members. The box was given the big sticker. During the short interview with the staff we got to know that this procedure is for individual customers. The e-commerce shops would have their contract signed with Posti. Their sticker could be designed the way they want. We had also a chance to observe how the Posti staff treats the postal packagings. In the office they are neatly placed on the shelves. The situation is different around the Smart Posti Lockers. The boxes are placed randomly on the floor. The lady at the post office said that individual people use this Kotimaan pakettiosoitekortti (homeland Parcel address card) the one they glued over the calligraphy. Companies has a contract with Posti and they can use their own stickers. There is also a software on internet ( https://www.signom.com/authentication/Identify.signom ) for the companies where they can print those stickers or get the needed infos for parcel if they use own package card.
Web shopping The design of the box is still open for additional visual elements. We would very much like to see the box being sold at some e-commerce store. The box could be easily adjusted to support the brand and image of each store. During the PackAGE period we could have worked on the specific web presentation of the box. However, preparing that on the proper (high) level would require more time and also careful research with the client. Each online store has a different purchasing system, and those systems should have been looked into properly, which seemed like an another project. That is why we decided not to prepare this part for the presentation and report.
The Book Box
Thank You
Without the persons mentioned our adventure would not be possible. We need and want to thank Markus Joutsela Kai Rentola Noora Nylander Tatu Marttila Jouni Paltakari Sanna Heiniö Eija Jokela and Suomen Aaltopahviyhdistys, Sapy ry Jonna Nylander-Hallott & Jani Ojanen from Lönnberg Anne Isokuortti for proofreading the report and all our PackAGE friends.
Thank you! Kiitos! ありがとう! Grazie! 謝謝! Dziękujemy! Anc Ciechanowicz • An-Ting Din • Eriko Ishii Sara Ceccherini • Tatu Laakso • Terhi Isokuortti
Anc Ciechanowicz An-Ting Din Eriko Ishii Sara Ceccherini Tatu Laakso Terhi Isokuortti
Anc Ciechanowicz An-Ting Din Eriko Ishii Sara Ceccherini Tatu Laakso Terhi Isokuortti