The RadarIQ team have been working on the packaging design for the product in preparation for the Kickstarter launch.
Packaging design, like all design, is an iterative process. This blog post outlines our development journey...
The packaging design journey started with looking for examples of packaging that we liked and didn't like. What kind of user experience were we having with products we had purchased recently? What requirements did we have from the packaging? We came up with the following list:
- Must be visually appealing.
- Must be environmentally friendly by minimizing waste (no excess packaging).
- Must hold the product securely (knowing it will be packaged further during distribution).
- Must not be expensive (spending money on the product is more important than the box).
- Must communicate the product's brand.
- Should contain the getting started instructions.
We started with two options for packaging
Solid Box
Matchbox style box
The Matchbox concept was chosen because it:
- Could be utilized to communicate the brand better.
- It was both more cost effective and environmentally friendly by being made from a single sheet of cardboard for each color.
Next came the design refinement and color choice. First cutouts were made using some colored cardboard we had around the office.
The blue and black combination stood out well. This looks like a winning design...
But it is not using the exact brand colors. The next try was to to remake the prototype using card colored using RadarIQ blue.
Hmmm.... The logo did not stand out as well as before... so we had a go at experimenting with all the RadarIQ brand color combinations (and variations).
Nothing looked that good. Maybe the dark blue on black wasn't so bad after all... and it does photograph nicely.
The next step was to ensure the sensor and cables can be packed neatly into the box... After some small adjustments everything fitted snugly. Tick!
Now, how about the the getting started instructions?
Well, there is space inside the box where we could just print the instructions on the box!
One prototype later, and we ended up with this:
The final validation was to talk to a commercial printer to make sure that the design is workable from a manufacturing perspective.... Yep it was.
Prototype complete!
OK, it was time to put the packaging aside while we worked on the rest of the R&D activities. The final tweaks of packaging design will be done closer to production time.
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