SBIO 2104 Class assignment

Dr. Robert Bush, SBIO department, assigned the students in his SBIO 2104 course this past semester with a packaging design project. A hypothetical situation was posed to the students. They were to put themselves in the position of a packaging designer working for a new customer - Smith Technologies. Smith Technologies was hoping to enter the computer gaming hardware market. They had a new computer mouse for which they needed a new package designed and created. In order to win Smith Technologies’ business, the student’s packaging design had to meet the project criteria in a unique, exciting, and creative manner that would work to convince customers to choose this product over the others in the market.

Each student in SBIO 2104 had the same assignment - to design and produce a prototype package to hold one gaming mouse. They were to use either paperboard or microflute corrugated board as the primary material for the project. However, additional materials such as polymer windows, hooks, and closures were allowed in their design to add features and functionality.

The students had to consider a few basic issues such as: does their packaging protect the product from damage and contamination; does the packaging support efficient shipping; is the package different from other market offerings in a way that supports all of Smith Technologies’ product’s unique qualities; and more. Their packages needed to be able to be displayed on both retail hooks and shelves, be recyclable, and preferably be able to be manufactured in one piece (or in as few components as possible).

The students were required to use the Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) equipment for the paper components of their design. They had to create both the graphics on, and the structure of, the package. Along with a physical package, they also had to turn in ARTIOS files containing the package design layout with dimensions and another ARTIOS file containing the graphics designs. Dr. Bush told them that “their design should address as many of the criteria as possible giving priority to those that the student believed to be the most important to the market success of the product.”

Following are some photos that Dr. Bush received of the student-designed packages for the Smith Technologies’ gaming mouse.