Sustainable Design

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Alex Tatner Sustainable Design

M&S

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The briefs

Department / Category - Meat

Product / Range description - Bacon

The industry currently packs bacon in coffin, shingle or vacuum packaging. We are looking for the next generation of bacon packaging that presents the product at its best but also taking into consideration the following:

- Fat is not spread over the packaging to ensure the consumers are not put off visually as they perceive the product to be fatter than it actually is.

- Drip (natural water loss) does not collect in the bottom of the pack.

- Packaging format saves shelf space.

- Customers can store the product easily when initially open.

We are mainly focusing on the core bacon offering which is in coffin pack.We would also like to reduce packaging as we currently use c-wrap labels. Pre-printed film has been considered but how can we incorporate this into the side and base of the pack as well.

Department / Category - Biscuits F10/F33

Product / Range description - Biscuit Tins

To design an airtight biscuit tin to:

- Retain freshness and quality of biscuits. - Reduce customer complaint levels when the product becomes stale after opening. - Ensure customer expectations are fullfilled.

Possible options to consider:

- To use moisture absorbing capsule to remove moisture in a flase bottom or lid similar to a Brabantia Biscuit barrel. - Paint seal type closure. - Rubber seals.

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Initial Ideas

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Initial Ideas

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Initial Ideas

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Initial Ideas

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Initial Ideas

Bis

cuit

tin -

Con

cept

des

ign

stal

e/stāl/

Adj

ectiv

e:

(of f

ood)

No

long

er fr

esh

and

plea

sant

to e

at; h

ard,

mus

ty, o

r dry

: “st

ale

brea

d”.

Bis

cuits

go

‘sta

le’ b

ecau

se th

ey h

ave

less

moi

stur

e th

an th

e ai

r aro

und

them

. The

m

oist

ure

in th

e ai

r is

then

tran

sfer

red

to th

e bi

scui

ts, m

akin

g th

em ‘s

tale

’.

My

desi

gn re

duce

s th

e am

ount

of a

ir in

the

bisc

uit c

onta

iner

usi

ng th

e st

ruct

ure

as a

‘vac

uum

’.

Am

ount

of a

ir in

side

co

ntai

ner.

A o

ne -

way

val

ve is

pus

hed

into

the

top

of th

e bi

scui

t co

ntai

ner,

It w

ill le

t air

out o

f th

e co

ntai

ner,

but n

ot b

ack

insi

de.

Whe

n th

e to

p of

the

cont

aine

r is

com

pres

sed,

air

is p

ushe

d ou

t of t

he v

alve

.

The

top

of th

e co

ntai

ner

then

retu

rns

to it

s or

igin

al

posi

tion,

cre

atin

g a

vacu

um

insi

de, r

educ

ing

the

amou

nt

of a

ir an

d m

oist

ure

getti

ng

to th

e bi

scui

ts.

The

top

can

be

com

pres

sed

mul

tiple

tim

es

to re

mov

e m

ore

air.

Ale

x Ta

tner

Des

ign

can

be in

corp

orat

ed in

to a

ny ti

n sh

ape

with

little

or

no

chan

ge in

pro

duct

ion

cost

s.

Valve

pla

ced

in c

entre

of t

in a

nd fi

ts in

with

des

ign

on

parti

cula

r bis

cuit

tin.

One

- W

ay a

ir va

lve is

fixe

d to

the

mid

dle

of th

e co

ntai

ner.

Whe

n th

e to

p of

the

cont

aine

r is

push

ed d

ownw

ard,

air

is p

ushe

d ou

t.

Sus

tain

able

Des

ign

Bac

on P

acka

ging

- C

once

pt d

esig

n

Liqu

id p

ools

in th

e si

de o

f bac

on p

acka

ging

bec

ause

it is

the

easi

est p

lace

for i

t to

go.

Ther

e is

a s

mal

l am

ount

of l

iqui

d re

leas

ed fr

om b

acon

, bec

ause

it is

all i

n th

e sa

me

plac

e, it

ca

n be

see

n.

If th

e liq

uid

is d

ispe

rsed

thro

ugho

ut th

e pa

cket

, it w

ill no

t ‘po

ol’ a

nd w

ill be

less

not

icea

ble.

My

desi

gn:

- D

ispe

rses

the

liqui

d fro

m th

e ba

con

arou

nd th

e pa

cket

usi

ng s

peci

ally

desi

gned

cha

nnel

s. -

Mak

es th

e pa

ckag

ing

rese

al-a

ble

whi

lst n

ot in

crea

sing

pro

duct

ion

cost

s.

This

bac

on p

acka

ging

still

use

s a

plas

tic fi

lm o

n th

e to

p to

ens

ure

the

baco

n is

as

fresh

as

poss

ible

whe

n it

is p

urch

ased

. A lid

is m

ould

ed a

t the

sam

e tim

e as

the

base

.

The

pack

age

foot

prin

t has

bee

n re

duce

d by

cha

ngin

g th

e sh

ape

of th

e ba

se. T

his

uses

less

m

ater

ial a

nd b

alan

ces

out t

he p

rodu

ctio

n of

the

lid.

Cha

nnel

s ar

e m

ould

ed in

to th

e ba

se o

f the

pac

k to

dis

pers

e th

e liq

uid

arou

nd th

e ba

se, a

nd

stop

it ‘p

oolin

g’ in

the

corn

ers.

This

pat

tern

is m

irror

ed in

the

top

of th

e pa

ckag

ing,

this

mak

es th

e pr

oduc

t mor

e st

able

to

stac

k, a

nd im

prov

e th

e lo

ok, o

n th

e sh

elf.

Onc

e th

e pl

astic

film

has

bee

n re

mov

ed, t

he lid

is u

sed

to e

nsur

e th

e ba

con

left

in th

e pa

ckag

ing

is k

ept f

resh

in th

e fri

dge.

Hav

ing

a lid

on

the

pack

agin

g al

so e

nsur

es th

at, w

hen

recy

cled

, liq

uids

left

from

the

baco

n do

not

co

me

into

con

tact

with

any

thin

g el

se.

Ale

x Ta

tner

Sus

tain

able

Des

ign

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Feedback and chosen brief

Chosen Brief : Biscuit Tin.

Feedback:

- Seal needs to be incorporated into the tin. - Base of tin needs to be tested for airtightness and sealed if needed. - ‘Pump’ action needs to be communicated concisely to the customer. - Plastic lid needs to be explored as an option. - Valve placement needs to be explored. - Air release solution.

Plan moving forward:

- Test whether the base of the tin is airtight, and to what extent. - Explore possibilities of a plastic lid and how this would look visually. - Explore valve placement possibilities if it doesn’t work well with the tin aesthetics.

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Current tin test

I decided to test a current biscuit tin for airtightness, I did this by filling a sick with water. I placed the tin face down, trapping air inside. This means when the tin is submerged, the air escaping will be easily seen.

- A small amount of air escaped from the corner of the base of the tin. - No air was escaping from the side of the tin, so this will not be a problem.

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Current tin test

To make the base of the tin airtight, I used clear silicon sealant around the seal inside the tin.

I then conducted the same test again to see if the base was airtight.

- No air escaped from the base or sides of the tin. - The silicon adhered to the metallic surface without peeling away.

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Current product testing

This food container uses a valve system to remove air and seal.

This container has a seal on the lip of the lid. (Pics. 2, 3)

Image 4 shows the extrusion that deforms the seal and creates an airtight seal.

A vacuum is created using a valve to add pressure to this seal.

1 2 3

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5 6 7The valve is pushed outward when the container is not in use, (Image 5) the container is then pushed downward and air is let out of the valve and the valve is pulled inward to create a vacuum and hold the lid on (Image 6). When the valve is lifted up, the air is released. (Image 7)

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Current tin test - Lid seal.

The lid of the container needs to be made airtight. To achieve this I have moulded a plastic seal around the base.

Because of the tolerances in the tin construction, the base is the only non-variable surface and is always flat. This means that it will create a uniform, airtight seal around the container when the vacuum is added.

After testing i found that this seal kept the tin airtight to an extent, but eventually it leaked.This may be because, as the seal was deformed under compression, it did not go back to its original shape.To rectify this i am going to use a ‘spongier’ rubber. This means when it is deformed it will return back to its original shape and seal the container.

Test.

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Current tin test - Lid seal - 2

I used a different type of rubber, this time in the lid of the container instead of the base.This seal has a larger surface area and returns to its original shape after it has deformed to make a seal.

Vacuum Mechanism.

The valve can be placed anywhere on the tin and will release air when the tin is compressed.

The valve consists of three parts and clamps onto the tin, requiring no glue.

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Vacuum Mechanism

The valve works by clamping the surface of the tin.

Removable top to release air. Also holds half of valve mechanism.

Middle Section to house second half of valve mechanism.

Tin goes here.

Base section clamps tin to valve housing.

This valve adds little weight to the tin, whilst substantially improving the life of the product.

The tin will be re-usable to keep other food produce fresh after the biscuits have been consumed.

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Vacuum Mechanism - Possible uses

The valve can be used in many different types of tin.

The valve can be incorporated into the existing design as a feature.

The valve can be hidden on the reverse of the tin so that it doesn’t interfere with the tin aesthetics.

The valve can also be placed on the bottom of tall - upright tins.

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Ideas in context.

These renders show how the product will look in context and how Marks & Spencer can educate their customers about the new feature.

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The valve assembly consists of three main parts. The base and middle section are used to house half of the mechanism and clamps to the tin.

This valve mechanism will work with both plastic and tin lids, making it very versatile.

The final top part houses the rest of the valve mechanism and is removed to let air back into the tin.

Valve mechanism - Proof of concept.

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GA Drawings.

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GA Drawings.

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GA Drawings.

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GA Drawings.

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How can design intervene and support sustainable use of materials and resource in our current and future society.

Over the course of this project and my experience with other at Ravensbourne, I feel that the main contributor to the use of sustainable materials falls largely with the initial designer. If the designer bases their product on the principal of it being ‘sustainable’ and being produced in a sustainable way this is a large step in the right direction. I think that we as designers need to be thinking about this when producing a product or project at all times.

In respect to current society, Sustainability can be incorporated into our everyday lives in the form of recycling and reusing. Some large electronics corporations aren’t helping this in the way that they design products to have a life cycle before a new one is released to replace the old one. I think companies like this can do a lot to improve our future society regarding sustainability, thinking about the way they design products by using recycled materials from the old ones or better manufacturing techniques that don’t waste materials for example.

Design can have a large impact on the sustainable society and i think that a lot more can be done to change products and their impact on the environment.

What developments are happening to support a more sustainable way of life.

Places like closed loop are doing a lot in the UK to support sustainable materials and are recycling more plastic bottles into food consumption than ever before. Places like this are the real contributors to reducing the amount of plastic we use. Plastic that is re-used over and over again is better for the environment than plastic that is down-cycled in materials for building.

Modern designers are using sustainability and the popularity towards this concept to sell products and create brands based on recycled and sustainable products. Ultimately, this can only be a positive step in the right direction in making our world more sustainable. The fact that sustainability is becoming ‘trendy’ and ‘fashionable’ helps sell these ideas and forces other companies to have sustainable products also.

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I am very pleased with how the project has gone. I feel that I have done the relevant testing to prove that the valve will work within the biscuit tin. I would have like to have got a prototype fully working for the final presentation however. I think I could have achieved this by doing some more testing into the construction of the valve mechanism and manufacturing it without the use of 3D printing, as the material used was porous and let air through.

I feel that through this project my eyes have been opened and I have learnt a lot about what will be expected of me in the design industry and how I will need to work within a company. I have benefited greatly from working with a client and feel that I thrive in coming up with new ideas to solve an actual problem a company needs to deal with.

Before this project I hadn’t worked very closely with packaging design so it was a nice change for me to work in another area of design that was new to me. I think this project will give me a new attitude if I am faced with another design brief that is working with packaging, and that the skills I have learnt will help me tackle the problem more efficiently.

This project has helped me improve my layout skills and has taught me that a lot of text is not needed when presenting, a picture can speak more words and be a lot more beneficial to someone without a design background. It has also made me more aware of the affects that design has on the environment and how I need to be always thinking of the most sustainable way to produce the ‘product’ I am designing. I have realized that this is also a priority for existing companies, even large corporations such as M&S.

I feel the valve mechanism can be improved by ‘slimming down’ the design and making it fit more with existing tins and also use up less room inside the packaging. For the final presentation I will aim to improve the valve design to make it more aesthetic and use a lot less plastic, making it cheaper to produce and more environmentally friendly.

Why my product answers the brief.

My product will help increase the life of the biscuits by reducing the amount of air inside the tin and also preventing air getting inside. It also doesn’t affect the weight of the product a lot if at all. This solution is very cheap and easy to implement into existing tin designs within the M&S manufacturers.

Reflective statement.

Date post:	20-Mar-2016
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Sustainable Design

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