PACKAGING PROJECT (Grade 7-12)
You have just been hired by a toy company to help in the product packaging company. Your job is to help the engineers design an effective package
for a doll (truck). You will also be working closely with the
advertising specialists.
- Go to a toy store and look at the toys on display.
What is the purpose of the packaging? Is there more than one purpose?
- List the different packaging methods you see in the store. What is the advantage of each?
For example: a solid cardboard box filled with foam chips provides very
good insulation against damage during shipping but doesn't let potential
buyers see the product and may lack visual appeal.
- What things have been done to toy packages to make them appealling to buyers? Are certain colors used repeatedly? Are boxes wrapped in shiny paper? Are there plastic windows for viewing the toy? Do some toys rely on the looks of the toy and therefore have minimal or no packaging?
- Try making your own package for the doll (truck). Did you combine
different materials? Did you come up with a new design or copy one
seen in the store?
- How much packaging was involved?
- How can the packaging be disposed of?
- Since your employer, the toy company, is primarily interested in
selling a product, is it more important to package the item to sell than to
have low environmental impact? Are these two ideas mutually exclusive?
Does your design combine the need to promote the toy with packaging that
doesn't require a lot of energy or resources for production or disposal?
- Who should pay for the disposal costs of packaging that isn't
recyclable or reusable?
- Do you have choices about how much packaging you purchase?
- If you were designing packaging for apples (or some other fresh food),
what others design factors would you have to consider? Things to consider:
- food should not be damaged during transport
- to keep transportation costs low, the packaging should not be too bulky
- packaging must be low cost since food is not generally of high value (an apple sells for 50 cents while a doll may sell for $20)
- the food may stay in the package for several days and shouldn't mold
- how can packaging be reused? recycled? disposed?
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