Packaging a Cupcake
New project new me!
Introducing the project:
My carrier object for this project will be a cupcake!
Immediate thoughts/problems that come to mind:
- How to maintain the shape of the frosting?
- How to protect the sponge?
HW: Make two corners that are 6" x 6", one with adhesives one with just joints.
Taking inspiration from the packaging around me:
Observations:
- Space in between tabs to account for the thickness of the cardboard.
- For folded tabs there are spaces left for the fingers to pull out the tabs.
CUBES:
Takeaways from this assignment:
- Precision and accuracy account for the way how well joints and edges fit together.
- Always take into account the thickness of the cardboard when doing joints.
- Other people had extremely creative ideas that involved a variety of tabs, joints, and folds.
Initial ideas/3 draft carriers:
When sketching, I mostly looked at function over form, with a heavy focus on protecting the form of the icing.
Other things I took into consideration while sketching:
- Not using adhesives including glue and tape.
- The element of surprise.
- Handles and methods of carrying, with the consideration of ergonomics.
I decided to make these three iterations because of the protection they all had for the frosting of the cupcake.
Making the improvements.
I made the tabs by taking out some parts of the flute on one side of the tab so that the other piece of cardboard can fit in. At first it worked, however, it became flimsy after the cardboard lost its friction. The shape of the tab itself made it hard for people to take it apart. I realized this design would inherently mess up the frosting since the cover can easily fall apart and it would slide down with no base supporting it.
Challenges 1.
All my current designs seem to converge to some sort of point and have a boxy bottom, but I feel that I cannot think beyond this certain form for my cupcake packaging. So I forced myself to think of designs with rounded tops and more organic forms.
Another Idea.
Following my lack of ability to move away from box shaped, pointy tip forms of design, I started to explore curved surfaces through cutting and using the bone folder to bend the cardboard without damaging it. I realized using a curved form is also more ergonomical in terms of how a user interacts with it.
I managed to come to an interesting design that was more embodying of the shape of my cupcake. The design consists of two separate pieces of cardboard where they intersect at both ends. This intersection serves to be both a handle and an interactive visual cue to push both ends of the carrier to release and secure the cupcake. The novelty of this idea was interesting, however, this carrier also poses several problems such as the open top design, the vague cues to push both ends, the ambiguous opening for the base, and the entire purpose of the carrier. The reason why I made this carrier was the idea that you don’t have to use your hands to pick the cupcake up and release it. However after asking around I realized people did not know to push the two sides after unclasping the bottom tab.
Speed Dating.
Below are some quick notes that I got from my peers in the Speed Dating Crit:
- The design looks like a candy wrapper and it reads well, as cupcakes are also meant to imbue a sense of joy and fulfillment.
- Nervous about getting icing all over hand when reaching for it. It was hard to access.
- Bottom tab is obscure, needs a more obvious indicator of it’s existence and function (e.g. tabs, finger holes)
- Confused about how bottom was suppose to fold.
- An interesting idea: Find someway to push two sides to make cupcake pop-out
- Two handles is slightly awkward. One handle would work nicer instead but its hard to incorporate into the current design.
- Can’t really tell what’s inside.
- When pinched up by the sides the tab-pops off, there for its inconvenient for transporting.
- People won’t think of pushing the two sides → need more visual cues.
- Find a way to connect top of the container nicely as the current version in too exposed on the top.
How I will act upon these improvements:
- Find a way to fix awkwardness in removing the bottom tab and design the pushing two sides function more effectively.
- Use a visual cue as an indicator to make the bottom tab more obvious.
Changing Direction.
After much consideration from the feedback I received and by my own personal judgement on the direction of where the design is headed, I decided to switch to another design just for the sake of purpose and function as the current model does not communicate these two aspects very well. Whilst the interactive element to the model was fun and creative, it wasn’t communicated quite well to any of the users and as I though more about it, it would make more sense to just pick up cupcakes with your hands instead of eating it from a carrier. I also brainstormed for cover top ideas yet came to no conclusion on that either because attaching a top would defeat the entire intention of the pushable carrier.
Going back to the drawing board, I explored different versions of carriers and eventually ended up with a simple yet functional design I started to play around with how I can draw out the layout plan from one sheet of cardboard. I wanted to be quick and efficient, so I used paper to do so.
Cardboard Prototyping.
Making my first iteration, I explored how tabs can fit into slots. For the side tabs, I removed some of the fluting in the cardboard to slot another piece of cardboard in between two layers. A problem that I soon realize with this is that the card becomes weak very fast and that the tabs do not stay inside by themselves anymore. I also used a two-slot tabbing method to attach a elevated surface to the back bone of the carrier. The cardboard elevation level here is adjustable which is good, however the removal and inserting of the tabs are a bit finicky and are not good for the purpose of this project.
Feedback from Stacey and Steve:
- The package does not convey that its holding a cupcake, its too boxlike.
- The handles are uncomfortable so instead I can use the negative cutouts to fold and make it more comfortable.
- It was hard to tell which part of the product was the front and which part was the back. And this made it hard to open.
- There are not enough visual cues to help them open the carrier.
Taking comments and improving:
After receiving feedback from last time, I took my next iteration to the extreme and rounded all corners. I did this in order to make holding the box comfier and more ergonomic. One major problem, however, is the frosting. Even without my frosting, as demonstrated in one of my photos, the sponge cake without the frosting still touches my box. This is undesirable yet I believe if I extend the front flap longer and bend it in the right spots with less bends, then I could extend the depth of the box.
Stray Observations…
- It looks like a lunch bag.
- It looks like a chair.
- It looks like a butt.
There is still something about the form that I dislike, perhaps its the odd amount of curves with the straight back. I also noticed that the semi-circle hole in the front is still not enough of a visual cue to indicate to a user to pull outwards.
Refining the final form.
After being discontent with the form of the previous carrier, I seek to find a balance between curves and flat surfaces, and a packaging that incorporated the handle into it’s form and not as an extra part sticking out. With that in mind, I came up with the design above.
I had to try several model drafts in order to test measurements and tabs.
The first iteration below, has the desired outcome that I want in my final design. However, the dimensions came out way to small as I based it off my previous model as seen in the back ground of the photo.
Improvements:
The second iteration will have an increase in height, width and depth just to give the frosting a bit more space to breath and more space for the hands to grab the handle without risk touching the frosting.
Another aspect that I aim to change from this iteration is the fact that the tab is very ambiguous in the front, as it slots in at the bottom, so not many people would be aware about having to pull the front tab up and out.
The first iteration still has a very box-like shape to it, so I will to move away in future iterations through having a hexagon base and having a curved surface for the sides that encompass the cupcake.
The second final model.
Above are my attempt at using a hexagonal base to curve the cardboard surfaces around to create a rounded surface. I also tried leaving a negative cutout of a handle on as it would give the handle more volume and thus more comfort for users using it.
The biggest problem here is that the height is still too short, so for the next and hopefully last iteration I will increase the height by around 2–3 cm. In addition to the height, I am still trying to figure out how the front flap would lock with the rounded sides as the current rectangle tab is not as strong as I want it to be, once it looses friction, it’ll become useless.
Creating the last one.
I decided that I would cut the curves of the side surfaces after I cut out all other parts so that I could make the curve cuts according to the hexagon base.
The tabs that I tried out are not exactly the most accurate and one side is poorly made, however at this point its already 3am in the morning before its due and I was losing focus so I decided not to pursue a remake. The function of the carrier still works perfectly well, it’s just the craftsmanship comes off poorly as I over cut extra parts. The semi-circle that pops out is the visual cue asking for the user to out and up.
The final outcome:
Product Evaluation:
Admittedly, this carrier still has its flaws as of now, with the loose tabs being one of the biggest problems. I think at this point I just have to move on and learn from my mistakes as I can’t do anything about the craftsmanship now, it’s still a learning process. I tried to keep the other parts of the product as clean as possible so it looks finished. In terms of function it works perfectly fine, carries the cupcake securely without having the frosting touching any surfaces. I am satisfied with the general form of the carrier as it came out as I how I intended it to be, with all parts coming from one piece of cardboard and the handle being incorporated into the form of the carrier.
Reflecting on the whole process:
Along with craftsmanship and patience, I think the biggest take away from this entire process was learning how to adapt ideas. I struggled quite a lot with a variation of ideas in the beginning. Yet once I came up with one that was relatively different from the rest and found out that its function, purpose and aesthetics are all quite ineffective for what it’s suppose to do, I gave up a bit too quickly on that one model that differed from others. Thinking back if I stuck with that model a bit longer and tried modifying it a bit, I might have been able to incorporate the original mechanism into another design.