As reported by The Atlantic, Stacked Wines introduced a multi-pack of portion pack sized wines, packaged in a relatively new vertical-stack format.

The obvious novelty of this idea is its bottle-like format. Unfortunately, we do not find the package or its multi-pack design usable beyond its novelty.

On the sensory appeal front, while this package design certainly has more sensory appeal than wine packed in carton, box, or PET wine packaging, it is nowhere near Wine Innovations’ competing and very appealing single serve wine glass package.
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Idea #1: Make a Roof Tile

Dr. David Saiia of Duquesne University has developed a hand-cranked machine to allow people in developing countries to make roof-tiles from plastic bottles. The machine helps cut the plastic bottle into strips, which are then attached to bamboo slat to build the tile.

In addition to help recycle plastic packaging, this idea provides partial solutions to several other developing-world problems. Some of these are:

• Provide a super-cheap construction material that is better than the alternative
• Provide jobs with low skill level requirements
• Eliminate packaging waste openly discarded near high-poverty areas in the developing-world

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Package = Toy

Toys designed by the London based designer Oscar Diaz assemble from their own packaging. Smaller components of the toy are neatly packaged inside the largest component, which, in this case, is the cylindrical body of the locomotive. Once the assembly is complete, the toy is ready for play with no packaging material needing to be discarded.
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An Environmentally Friendly Alternative

Our recent coverage of GreenBottle prompted a response from Ecologic Brands, a US based renewable / recyclable alternative package manufacturer with much wider deployment in the US and Canada. They have supplied us with samples for our evaluation.

A Different Approach

Unlike GreenBottle, the samples we received from Ecologic Brands do not use a biodegradable liner, but instead a recyclable #4 LDPE inner pouch. The beauty of this approach lies in the recyclable / compostable clam-shell outer structure being easily separable from the recyclable inner liner. As a bonus, the outer shell is made of recycled cardboard, and newspaper and is not bleached. In contrast to GreenBottle’s strict renewability approach, this is a hybrid approach of both renewability and recyclability.
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A video of TetraPak carton manufacturing from Discovery’s How Stuff Works. Enjoy.

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Is a paper bottle finally ready for prime time? This is an idea that has been around for ages, though it has never had any traction. One of the main reasons for this is its recyclability claims tend to be optimistic at best, while being more on solid ground for renewability. Why is that?
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©2012 PackageRepublic.com. All Rights Reserved.

We normally do not cover graphic design on packages, instead focusing on structural and functional changes and innovation. However, we came across this interesting design from Pierini Partners. The design’s colorful approach inspired by the North East region of Argentina grabbed our attention and reminded us of good Brahma beer. Enjoy.
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We came across this interesting shower gel package design from Korean design firm Swagger that has an interesting twist. It is secondarily packaged in a recycled brown paper wrap. At the point-of-purchase (POP), this package will certainly stand out among thousands of glossy packages in this category.
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Heinz ketchup package is now becoming available

You may remember our coverage last year for the new dip-and-squeeze Heinz package, which Heinz released on February 4th, 2010. The package is now starting to become available.

On September 19th, The Wall Street Journal released a detailed account of how it was developed. It was also covered by Brian Williams during the NBC evening news on September 20, 2011. Somewhat unusual for packaging.

We are not surprised that Heinz developed the package through a consumer centric innovation process that involved observing consumers while they were interacting with the package. We have long promoted this approach here, and we applaud Heinz for its approach.
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