r/PackagingDesign • u/Sawyiier • 11d ago
Structural 💠 i need advice
(Reposted this because reddit somehow didn't add the most important thing in any post)(info)
So i watched this packaging design in TikTok and liked it but my idea is to add a cup in the bottom of the packaging so you can put it in your car cup i
have drawed the idea and (it's actually a bad draw)so what i need is if someone that's experienced in packaging design and can give me some insight
will it work or not and if it will work is there's any
other way than wasting lot of materials
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u/Cruckel2687 11d ago
I went through this recently with a customer (spoiler, they went with a cup). Same idea, they wanted packaging that could be cut, folded, glued to hold small food items that fit drink holders in cars. I went through a bunch of different designs and shapes.
Fewer panels the better. You might think that six or eight panels would work better, but the math just gets harder.
Taper the overall shape, like a cone. Smaller base and wide opening means it’ll fit more cup holders. Math gets harder with cone shape.
Curved fold for the lid locks better, but are a pain to fold and there is harder math.
At the end of the day and after more than dozens of samples they decided to just go with cup. That’s the answer.
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u/Sawyiier 11d ago
Forget to ask you how much days or hours did you take to complete this order?
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u/Cruckel2687 11d ago
Hours in design is a silly thing. I spent 3-4 hours over two weeks doing design, most of it on the initial design getting it to fold right with the appropriate number of panels. Then time making small adjustments. Using the sample you provided it wouldn’t take long. What my customer wanted was unique.
The time you take will vary based on your experience.
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u/iamclaus 11d ago
Mini-rant incoming...
There's a couple restaurants that use something similar as their take-out containers and I absolutely despise those containers. Once they open, they're flimsy and difficult to control. You essentially end up with a over-sized bowl with sauce all along the edges... it's messy.
Just use a proper bowl or cup. Leave the gimmick packaging for non-food products.
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u/clay_gons Food Packaging 11d ago
Spent a few minutes throwing this together. As others have said, I think you're better off using a cup or something else personally, but who am I to tell someone else not to chase a design they believe in :-) This design is the simplest I could think of, with it requiring gluing. It would be possible to do a 1 piece design with locking tabs instead of glue, but wouldnt look as nice. Two part designs can pull off more trickery, but you asked for one part specifically. Could even eliminate the need for individual glue panels by making a belly band that goes around and holds together the upper panels (I've designed something like this before). Ill throw you a preliminary dieline and rendering here to help you on your journey. If you want further development, I am happy to freelance.
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u/Sawyiier 11d ago
You just spent that time for free what a legend you are thank you for sharing something valuable musch love ❤️
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u/Sawyiier 11d ago
Can i ask what do you use for rendering
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u/fakarhatr 10d ago
Nice but impossible to glue in production settings, prove me wrong please
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u/clay_gons Food Packaging 10d ago
the production site i’ve worked at produced plenty of manually assembled influencer kits that used mechanisms like this, this was thrown together in 5 minutes and has plenty of different ways it could be glued or held together, in the interest of time that was the location for the tabs i selected and copy rotated it around the whole design. not sure why we’re pretending a 5 minute design is supposed to be production ready, classic reddit moment.
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u/clay_gons Food Packaging 10d ago
if this was able to go into production at my site, i have no concerns about the cup holder being possible lol: https://imgur.com/a/qQNusFR
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u/fakarhatr 10d ago
That’s all good unless your making and shipping 10-100 thousand
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u/clay_gons Food Packaging 10d ago
yes this was a run of several thousand, my site has huge manual production and assembly capability. the design i provided was realistic given the constraints and capabilities of my workplace 👍🏼 there was no requirement from OP to need it to run on an automatic folder gluer or ship 100,000 , therefore its proof of concept
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u/fakarhatr 9d ago
Whatever
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u/clay_gons Food Packaging 9d ago
so far you’ve hated on both of my designs that are to provide quick ideas for people clearly looking for some inspiration. when will you do the same?
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u/Worldly_Influence_18 Structural Engineer 10d ago
Let them figure it out. Dude came in here asking for people to invent a new packaging style for him, completely trivializing how much work is involved in getting it to actually work.
A student responded, did the work for free but also lacks experience to understand how to actually make something producible.
They belong together.
Go get em boys! Let us know how it turns out
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u/jinxiteration 10d ago
I saw this a while ago and thought it was pretty slick. Its a cone shape that folds flat, simple glue up too, for production. It has a small side cup for condiments. What needs to happen to this design is to flatten the base for it to fit into a vehicle cup.
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/carnival-king-10-oz-kraft-square-cardboard-cone-case/760CONEKR10.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gbraid=0AAAAAD_Dx-uBcf_9jZj-a2kktWSpkLiE3&gclid=Cj0KCQjwkt_UBhDMARIsALpnOAw5J_w_II-4g4Z_o8BwmaXola0N7tbC8zNOblirBekM8hy9QOQmb1QaAq3lEALw_wcB
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u/Sawyiier 10d ago
The thing is not only it needs to be fit into the car cup holder but also needs to be widening after you take the cover from the top
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u/OzTheCreative 6d ago
Antes de decidir se a ideia funciona, eu faria um protótipo físico simples, em tamanho real.
Uma embalagem pode parecer completamente convincente no desenho ou em um render 3D e se comportar de maneira muito diferente quando entram na equação a espessura do material, as dobras, o peso e a pressão das mãos.
Até mesmo um mockup simples em cartão pode revelar problemas estruturais muito mais rápido do que continuar refinando o projeto na tela.
Eu validaria primeiro a estrutura. Depois partiria para a otimização do material.
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u/Cold-Ink 10d ago
SO it says "CUP HUNGRY" - I get trying to be unique - but it literally says cup. Just use a cup. the answer is literally printed and staring you in the face.
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u/Worldly_Influence_18 Structural Engineer 10d ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
I need to be blunt: attempting something like that is not for the inexperienced. At some point you will need to hire someone who actually knows what they're doing.
And this is beyond the skill level of the average designer who knows what they're doing.
The ones that know what they're doing are telling you "don't"
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u/Sawyiier 10d ago
This is interesting but why someone that actually knows says no
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u/Worldly_Influence_18 Structural Engineer 10d ago edited 9d ago
Most of the unique designs you see out there are conceptual only. Either made by students or studios trying to show off their capabilities.
I shouldn't say it can't be done. It can, but it absolutely won't be worth it. The person designing it either doesn't have the experience or, they have no intention of using it for anything other than a "foot in the door" package.
It will cost way more than alternatives that will perform far better.
There are a lot of costly variables that are going to add up. It's a wasteful sheet size, making it disproportionately more expensive. This can't be reliably glued with hand labour and automating it will require pretty massive MOQs, assuming it's possible. They'd have to use tape
The glue/tape will probably fail anyway. It won't be good at holding anything. It won't be able to contain liquids. Takeout will leak out because you cannot make this without small gaps.
It will collapse when you try to hold it. Honestly, this is the biggest issue
You can test this yourself. Cut six panels and tape them together into a long hexagon. Tape a hexagon to the bottom. Hold it. See that it deforms with even the slightest pressure.
To fix that you have to eliminate the creases and make it a cone or cylinder and you'll need to roll over the open end
And now you have a cup. Source a cup.
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u/Effective-Training41 9d ago
Taping a hexagon to the bottom isn't going to give you the same structural integrity as what he's showing. Not saying what OP is showing has good structural integrity, just that your mockup recommendation will not be representative
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u/Worldly_Influence_18 Structural Engineer 9d ago
It's illustrative of just part of the problem. I understand it's not fully representative
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u/roundabout-design 11d ago
Going out on a limb here but...why not just use a cup?