Response to Crit: October 11

During critique today, I showed a conceptual design for foldable boxes with minimal assembly.
The most exciting feedback was the excitement from the group about the design.
It was challenging to hear about the flaws within the form, since many were points which I realized when making the objects. Yet, it is beneficial to see what is obvious to the viewers. 
Airtightness was a major point since this excercise was to think about how to redesign ziplock containers into paper. Right now, the box can be folded flat, pulled up quickly and folded. However, it can't hold moist foods, because of paper's porous nature and the fact that it isn't able to be sealed. The group supported that it can be done, and that it would be ground-breaking to perfect.
Also, the design for the clasp isn't sturdy enough, and no one would want to put it in a backpack and have it spill. So, I was given the idea to put the clasp on the inside and think of a sturdier way to fold it. 
We talked about coatings, like the wax coated cartons I had been studying earlier. Someone in the group suggested that I look at a type of waterproof coated paper used for painting, just to see how it is made.
It was also exciting to see the ideas people formed about what would benefit the design. Someone mentioned how Heineken designed their cartons to have tabs that worked in a "Leggo-effect", so they could stack. They said to think about how these modules interact when they are unfolded.
I think the graphic element is the most difficult thing to work with because so much time went into the form that it sacrificed the icon. I'm not satisfied with it, but the group suggested that it identifyed the object 'eco-friendly' to be recycled.

I didn't disagree with any feedback, most of the conversation was bouncing ideas off of one another. I'm sure some of the clever things brought up won't make it into a future design but it worth thinking and experimenting on. 

The next steps for this project would be to make it in a thicker paper and to experiment with different materials for air-tightness. I also want to come up with other potential design exercise like this to get me thinking about what is effective and what isn't in certain designs and to make progress to come up with my year long focus.