Packaging Design — 2023
Foldwork Packaging
A ceramics studio whose beautiful packaging kept arriving as beautiful packaging full of broken mugs.
Breakage claims dropped by half after a structural rethink.
- Client
- Foldwork Ceramics
- Discipline
- Packaging and unboxing design
- Engagement
- 7 weeks, Oct to Nov 2023
- Team
- Two studio founders, one packaging manufacturer
Overview
Foldwork is a two-person ceramics studio shipping around four hundred orders a month. Their packaging looked lovely and performed badly, with breakage claims running near 9%.
They asked for a visual refresh. The audit said the structure was the problem, so we did both, and the structural work carried the result.
Role
Packaging designer, contract
7 weeks, Oct to Nov 2023 · Two studio founders, one packaging manufacturer
- Review of returned and damaged shipments
- Structural redesign with the manufacturer, including dielines
- Printed surface design across three box sizes
- Insert card, care instructions and returns label design
- Material specification with recycled content and cost targets
Problem
Twenty-two damaged returns told a consistent story. Breakages were not from crushing, they were from movement. The inner packing let pieces shift against each other during handling, and the damage was almost always chipped rims rather than shattered bodies.
The second problem was cost. The existing box used four separate components with three suppliers and needed a good deal of hand assembly per order, in a studio where the two founders also make everything.
Process
Opening the returns
Twenty-two damaged shipments, unpacked and photographed. Chipped rims rather than crushed bodies pointed straight at movement, not at pressure, and that changed the whole structural brief.
Structure before surface
Working with the manufacturer, we moved to a single die-cut form with integrated corrugated dividers that lock without tape. Fewer components, no separate inserts, and pieces that cannot touch each other in transit.
Print that suits the material
One-colour print on kraft, with the mark and pattern designed to sit well on an uneven recycled surface. It reads as deliberate rather than economical, and it kept the unit cost down.
Designing the unboxing
The care card, the studio note and the returns label were sequenced so they appear in a sensible order as the box opens. Nothing is hidden under the piece, which is where people find things only after they have already thrown the packaging away.
Dropping the prototypes
Six prototypes went through drop tests at four heights with real pieces inside. Two failed. The third revision held at every height, and that is the one that shipped.
Outcomes
- −52%
- Breakage claims after twelve weeks
- 4 → 1
- Packaging components per order
- −38%
- Time to pack a single order
- 100%
- Recycled and kerbside recyclable material
The packing time reduction mattered more to the founders than the cost saving. It gave a two-person studio back several hours a week of making time.
Gallery
Tools
- Illustrator
- InDesign
- Dieline templates
- Drop testing