Studio Week 6: Accessibly Packaging - Final Submission

When shopping for groceries, consumers are often frustrated by hard-to-open product packaging on the everyday products they buy, and this can affect what products they choose to buy. Older people and those living with arthritis are particularly affected but most people struggle with “clamshell” wrapping, vacuum sealed jars and toy packaging.

This being said, Arthritis Australia has predicted that seven million Australians will suffer from arthritis by 2050. Currently nearly four million live with the disease and half of those are of working age. Australia’s population is also ageing, with projections that 14.6 million, or 44 per cent, will be over 50 by the middle of this century.

Therefore packaging should take a turn towards being more arthritic friendly for easy access. Arthritis sufferers do make up a large portion of our society, and we should make the change that benefits those in the long run. This is particularly the case with medicinal products aimed at treating arthritis.

Ibuprofen is a common painkiller for arthritis sufferers, as it is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). It works by reducing hormones that cause inflammation and pain in the body, and is taken in doses of 1-2 tablets, 2-3 times a day depending on how bad the pain is. It isn’t a treatment for arthritis, but more of “Band-Aid fix”. Ibuprofen is most commonly it is found in “child-proof” jars, which prove difficult for those to open if they suffer from pain in their hand joints. It is also found in the regular cardboard box, packaged inside plastic with an aluminium sheet to be “popped” out upon consumption. Neither of these packaging techniques is suitable for arthritic patients, so there needs to be a redesigning of this to address the problem.

This is where my packaging design comes in. It features an easy round gripped back, along with a larger lid with a slight overhang. Together they prove to make medicine easier to access and dispense. The lid is a bright blue, providing contrast to the white base for elderly people, thus suggesting it is where the container should be “split”. The hole that dispenses the Fioprofen tablets is round, so the oblong tablets can be shaken out with ease, and there is no need for the tablet to be in a specific angle to be tipped out.

Peer Comments:
1. Edric Verbeek: http://edricides3222.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/project-1-final-submission.html?showComment=1378091227536#c4666939306055851842
2. Ryan Go: http://ryan-go.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/accessible-packaging-autotech-engine-oil.html#comment-form
3. Max Glanville: http://maxglanvillez3333044.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/accessipill-accessible-packaging.html?showComment=1378091434713#c371928664827893397
4. Patrick Dunn: http://patrickdunnindustrialdesign.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/blog-post_3120.html?showComment=1378091742817#c437335316757705799
5. Lubar Han: http://lubar-han.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/final-packaging.html?showComment=1378091875096#c5114930196315092463

Studio Week 5

Today in class we participated in a different and engaging activity. We were presented with a Breville appliance in groups of 10 (my group got a blender), and we had to disassemble it and analyse our tear down. When we received the product, it was very easy to take apart due to the obvious screws and bolts. However, when we tried to take it apart further, we realised it wasn't so easy, and it actually required more than simple hand tools. In the end to take apart the rotating blades from the jug, we had to insert it into a vice and use power tools to break it apart. They definitely manufactured that to be sturdy! Below are a couple of pictures of us in the process of breaking the blender down:

By the end, we had completely separated the parts of the blender (and even parts of the motor!). It was astounding to see just how many components was in a simple every day appliance we own at home. When that was complete, we had to identify the material of each part, and enter that into Greenfly. Greenfly then helped us calculate the life cycle analysis from raw material, to it's end waste. 

Overall i thought the activity was a valuable learning experience, especially since we had a Breville representative from the industry talk to us and explain certain components. I really enjoyed it and i think my team worked together very well!

Studio Week 4

This week we were required to have draft posters ready for a Cormack representative to see and give us feedback on. Unfortunately he didn't have time to get around to all the students, and i was one of them, so i never got any critique or feedback from him. Luckily though, i had the chance to display my work, and ask other students what they thought of my work.

Ginny Kwok looked at my design and commented on the overall shape of it. She liked the look of it, but asked if maybe the lid contained too much "empty space". It was a valid point, seeing as i had quite a large lid compared to the body. Max Glanville also gave me constructive feedback when he saw my posters. He commented that some of the posters had too much text, and too little graphics, and wasn't equally balanced. With feedback from students in my focus group, and from other tute groups, i could gain a better insight on what was required for the final presentation.

Below are a couple of photos i took of user interactions with my product.

Cormack Draft Posters

T2 Charette: LCA lifecycle analysis

Greenfly: Design greener products

• This video encourages us to think about environment considerations rather than just simply 'design'
• Using graphs and visual tools, it really highlights how alternative resources and materials could affect the life cycle selection of our designs
• The information given to us in our Environmental Declaration Report is very thorough, and definitely makes us think twice about wastage and energy consumption, all leading to global warming.

Therefore eco-design should always be on our minds when we design. We should be designing for a more sustainable environment to benefit not only us, but future generations.

Autodesk: Whole system and lifecycle thinking

• Improving performance and decreasing costs shouldn't be conflicting, because we should take a few steps to look at the whole 'system' of what we're designing for first
• It is important to do in depth research to figure out insights and thoughts of consumers before jumping straight into simply designing something
• We must also set our priorities, so we know where to fit in environmental goals to increase sustainability and decrease wastage

I gathered that no design process is 'linear' but there are rough guidelines we should all follow in our thinking. Doing this will ensure we get the best out of our work.

Autodesk: Improving product lifetime

• As designers we should always plan out exactly how products can be used to improve product lifetime
• We need to make things durable for reuse, despite it being "bad business" 
• The ideal product lifecycle is one of a closed loop, leaving no material for creating landfill, however this is very difficult and can be quite costly to achieve.

Not everything should be built to last forever, or else this could cause a catastrophe. Things should be designed to have a 'good end of life' to be recycled, or to be used in another environment.

Autodesk: Lightweighting

• Designing something to be lightweight can save on lots of resources and material
• The energy used to make materials are very large, so as designers we should always be conscious of sustainability
• Geometry and structure can be a strategy for sustainability - this includes hollows/ribs/decreasing wall thicknesses/using trusts

Making a design 'lightweight' is not always the way to go. There are consequences, such as the product may not be as robust, or may lead to a shorter lifecycle, which defeats the purpose of 'saving material' as in the long run, you'd be using more.

Autodesk: Green materials selection

• A good material can be determined by being abundant and non-toxic
• A doesn't require a lot energy and other resources to make it
• A good material it has the right physical properties for its functions

A good material must be balanced off by their trade-offs in uses and functions

Autodesk: Energy efficient design

• The first stage of energy is actually the mining and transport of coal
• Environmental impacts of energy may vary depending on the source of energy and its use
• If there is less sources of energy at the beginning of the 'energy stream', there is less energy used at the end, and therefore a lower cost

The more we know about energy, the more efficient our designs can be as designers.