Creating New Paper Packaging Ideas

One of my favorite left/right brain partnerships is paper engineering. I find it terrifically satisfying to invent a new box closure system, wrap, carton, envelope, invitation – what have you – or just create a new twist on a classic closure method. A unique, custom, carton design, in combination with great graphics, can be just the thing to make a package design or product stand out as just a little bit extra special. And sometimes a little bit of special is all you need.

The current generation of CAD-controlled, desktop paper cutters is opening new worlds of prototyping possibilities. Prototype iterations that used to take 15 minutes or more each to cut by hand are now just a few clicks away, and ready for testing within seconds. This allows more creative freedom in terms of time spent exploring, playing and trying out ideas that might have otherwise been discarded as whims. Those are the little barriers I try to remove in order to clear the road to new ideas. And it’s working.

This is fun.