Abstract:

This interdisciplinary undergraduate packaging course includes graphic designers and industrial designers working together to create innovative and sustainable paperboard packaging solutions for professional clients. Experiential learning is a major component of the course, where students conduct retail audits and competitive analyses to guide their conceptual investigation. In addition, teams research current and emerging material and form trends. Teams are introduced to design thinking processes and team-building strategies to replicate the professional environment. The critical topics of identifying consumer behavior and audience data collection methodologies are also covered during the course to guide the design process. The following topics are covered throughout the course: traditional and emerging sustainable materials, and efficient form factors for transportation, inventory, display, and end of use. Visits to local paperboard packaging manufacturing facilities reinforce the manufacturability and practicality of solutions. The course emphasizes proof of concept and case studies to justify decisions and to explore further refinements. Teams analyze and test their solutions in stages of development and make improvements and refinements as needed. The sponsoring design organizations introduce the projects, meet with teams in person or virtually to provide feedback, and evaluate the final solutions. By the end of the course, students have a holistic understanding of the processes involved in bringing packages to the marketplace. This course is regarded as a transformative experience because of its focus on experiential learning, interdisciplinary collaboration, preparation for professional practice, industry leadership, and strategic sustainability approaches. As a result of this course, many students have changed their career focus to packaging and have secured positions in the industry.

Keywords:

Packaging, interdisciplinary, collaboration, graphic design, industrial design, experiential education, industry preparation, sustainability.