![]() My goal is to always influence myself and other people to utilize the talents they have to design for good. I also get to apply myself and hopefully make small contributions to help the world go green. I can create those lines or boundaries and change them whenever I want. I don’t have to be a person who colors inside the lines. I get to be a little bit of an architect, paper crafter, and graphic designer all at once. It could mean creating thoughtful, biodegradable, well-structured packages that could be reused more often before it gets recycled.Īnother thing that I have understood about myself and the reasons why I love designing packages is that package design is much more than just applying graphics, fields of color, and well designed type to panels on an already created box or dieline. It could mean to just be more mindful, and to use exactly what you need, when you need it. To me, being eco-friendly as a package designer doesn’t have to entail using the most minimal amount of paper as possible, thoughtlessly folded 8 ways to call itself a box. And I always kind of laugh to myself when one of my friends complains about some mess of a paper tote (supposedly constructed to hold 6 glass green tea bottles from the health food store, which she had bought primarily because it had “eco-friendly” printed on it in green ink) that broke on her 2 block walk home. It has definitely taught me not to underestimate the power of paper and physics. This experience has stuck with me for a while. ![]() If molded in the right way, paper can do wonders. Our teacher told us that if we did it right, the domes should be able to hold a 12-years-old’s weight – plus textbooks. After we had finished building these domes in teams of 4, we each had to take turns sitting on it to see if it could hold our weight. On our first day, our teacher faced us with a challenge: to build a 4 foot tall jungle gym dome out of newspaper. When I was in 7th grade, I took a really nerdy class, where things such as computer science, basics of electricity and switchboards, aerodynamics, and bridge building were touched upon. Here are a few images (after the jump), that were taken by Meidad Suchowolski:Īlthough paper in its original state seems very flimsy, it can be molded into the most strong architectural structures. These techniques present endless possibilities when applied to packaging design. From ornate and geometric to extremely simple and even organic, the book covers over 70 techniques designers can put in their toolboxes. Something that was and is very helpful to me is a book called Folding Techniques For Designers From Sheet To Formby Paul Jackson. As I learned the ropes of creating my own dielines I also began to understand the importance of sustainable packaging in being eco-friendly and how I could make a difference. It was not only important to me that I did well, what was more important was how much I could apply myself so that I could hopefully influence others to try as hard as I had. Although creating some super well thought out, never-been-seen-before dieline wasn’t exactly required for passing the class, I made it required for myself to learn, or at least try. ![]() With lots of persistence, dozens of packaging prototypes, several Exacto knife wounds, and paper cuts later, I started to get the hang of the process. I had found myself going from merely following origami instruction booklets, to inventing my own “instructions,” dielines, and fold-lines for packaging projects. It’s my way of becoming an eco-friendly graphic designer.Īpplying my paper folding interest to creating well structured, sustainable packaging for school projects wasn’t exactly an easy or a smooth translation from one to the other. The discovery of bringing these two passions of mine together was prompted by a package design class I took this year and has turned into a rewarding way to channel my efforts to do good in the world. ![]() Just this year, I have finally been struck with the idea to integrate graphic design and origami together. ![]() It’s a nice way to pass the time, challenge my brain, and the resulting product (if you’ve followed the folding instructions correctly) can turn into a nice little decoration for your home, or even just a small gift for someone else as a friendly gesture. One of my passions outside of graphic design is origami and the art of paper folding. ![]()
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