We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer Ridzert Ingenegeren about their original and creative Packaging Series design work. Ridzert Ingenegeren is an award-winning creative designer, that makes our world a better place with their original packaging series works.
Ridzert Ingenegeren ("RI") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work Stripes Packaging Series. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
RI : The idea was to create a packaging series for the Bergkvist knives that is suitable as gift packaging. My client and I also wanted to make it an eco-friendly alternative to many other knife packagings that are currently used on the market.
RI : There were two main focuses, namely to provide an interesting unboxing experience and to create sustainable products.
RI : The packagings are already used for successfully selling knives of the Bergkvist brand. As with other designs I create, it is my wish for the packaging to help my client succeed.
RI : Designing the main concept took less than two months, after which a few months were needed to finalize product development with the manufacturer.
RI : The design was commissioned by Bergkvist. The collaborative approach of my client and me was to find ways to make the packaging more sustainable than previous versions and other products on the market.
RI : The packaging series is being produced by my client in collaboration with a manufacturer.
RI : I looked at the packaging series from the perspective of recycling, combined with using renewable materials. Many packagings that are currently on the market use EVA foam to protect and present the product it carries. EVA foam does its job nicely, but has a low recyclability rate and is often hard to separate from its cardboard packaging. The Stripes packaging series is made 100% recyclable with paper, which means that the packagings can be disposed of in one go in a paper recycling bin. The inner cardboard of the packagings, as well as the brochures that comes with the knives, contain 100% recycled material. Extra care was taken to make the packaging plastic-free.
RI : The Bergkvist brand was the main inspiration for the design. After my client and I had discussed the desired outcome, I designed multiple options that we could choose from. Conversations with the team and manufacturer of my client influenced the design as well.
RI : Everyone who would like to buy a Bergkvist knife. Another part of the target group for the design is someone who wants to give a folding knife to someone else, which is why we made the packagings suitable as gift boxes.
RI : The sustainable aspects: it is 100% recyclable with paper, has recycled materials for the inner cardboard and brochures. It is a plastic-free packaging without EVA foam or magnets.
RI : The name ‘Stripes’ refers to the different stripe patterns on the packagings. Each packaging has a stripe pattern that refers to the form language or style of the knife it contains.
RI : Graphic design software as well as CAD software.
RI : The combination of being an esthetically pleasing gift box while at the same time being easy to recycle.
RI : I collaborated with my client, his team, and the manufacturer to get all the details right.
RI : The conventional way of working with EVA foam as inlay material would have been easier, but we chose for a solution that is recyclable with paper. We compared various materials and arrived at bagasse, which is a type of paper made of waste from the sugarcane industry. The technology for creating a bagasse inlay is vastly different from the technology for creating an EVA foam inlay. Technology plays an important role in this design, because the technological possibilities are directly related to the material.
RI : My client performed market research that led to the start of the design project. On top of that, research into materials that are suitable for paper recycling was done together with the manufacturer.
RI : Challenges were to find the right materials and to eliminate plastic, while at the same time keeping the solution cost efficient.
RI : It would be great if the packaging series could be an inspiration for other people who design packagings or sell products, especially the sustainable aspects. If it would win an award from an international design competition, it should get more exposure and hopefully help with that goal.
RI : Doing something unconventional might take more time and perseverance, but if you handle challenges as a team, you might as well create something big!
RI : Well, if you’d like to develop a new product or packaging, you might want to start by having a look at www.ridzert.com
