blossom into beauty
♻️
🌼
🧴
blossom into beauty ♻️ 🌼 🧴
plastics dominate the world around us.
when designing mass-market packaging, how can we do so ethically?
Plastics are the undisputed material of choice for producing high-volume consumer goods. With many kinds of plastics sticking around for decades or even centuries, addressing the environmental impact is paramount to preserving the world around us.
criteria to consider
character
The chemical structure of plastics allows them to possess extremely different physical and chemical properties. Durability, inertness, and aesthetics were of particular importance for beauty packaging.
flexibility
Plastic parts can be fabricated in a myriad of ways, like injection and blow molding, allowing for all sorts of shapes and sizes to be produced. This mitigates restrictions posed by other traditional manufacturing methods, allowing for more freedom when designing parts.
Cost
A byproduct of oil production, plastics are often notably cheaper than other materials. When scaling to produce thousands of units per day, even the smallest of additional costs can balloon project expenses.
longevity
Plastics do not degrade in meaningful ways quickly. Though there are many methods of mitigating their lengthy lifespan, not all are created equal.
end of life alternatives
Mitigating the harmful effects of plastics on our world fall into three main categories:
01
reduce
02
reuse
03
recycle
Blossom into beauty
combines all three
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Reducing the amount of plastic used to produce this package required me to minimize the mass of the parts while maintaining their core function. Thin walls can be of particular trouble with injection molding, so maintaining structural integrity is important for the injection shot process and daily use of the product.
Designing the parts to produce minimal waste when manufactured was a challenge in gate placement and internal geometry.
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Reusing pieces of the product gives it a second lease on life. Using an attractive, transluscent, thick-bottomed jar, the body can be reused for many different purposes.
For Blossom, the intended use is as a planter, emphasized by the flower motifs in the shape of the bulb and stem. The facial applicator (aka the seed) can be removed from the tip of the stem with ease. Unscrewing the bulb from the stem allows users to remove the cap and fill the hollow bulb with water, which, when threaded back onto the wand, make the perfect watering globe to keep your plant happy and hydrated.
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Making the cap, bulb, and stem from polypropylene offers a nearly monomaterial build that also seals against itself, creating airtight packaging.
Allowing for easy separation and cleaning of parts encourages folks to reuse what they want and recycle the rest.
blossom
into beauty
Similar to the beauty packaging I created at HCT, I embarked on this project to combine aesthetics with functionality and universal design. Continue below to explore the components.
the parts
The Bulb
The Stem
The Seed
The Jar
The Cap
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