Packaging Unboxd with Evelio Mattos

Kirk Visola, Founder and Creative Director of Mind the Fun, Co-host of Clubhouse's Kirk and Kurtts (Andy Kurtts), and Monday's with Marilyn (Kirk's mom) joins PDU to have a discussion about race and design. Kirk shares the experiences he's had as a black designer, learning that design could lead to a career, and his passion for comics. We discuss everything from updating his LinkedIn profile with...

Supply chains are breaking down, freight rates are blowing up, and today there are even brands that are paying off dock workers to move their products to the front of the line. Don't stoop low enough to break the law, just listen to this episode where Thaxton Lipscomb explains how to engineer your logistics to move your goods faster and cheaper. He lays out everything from materials to incoterms a...

Is plastic packaging evil? Is it killing sea-life, reducing sperm counts of men globally, decimating bird populations, or is it a misunderstood miracle material? In the Package Design Unboxd Q&A Clubhouse room, Chris DeArmitt Plastic Scientist and author of A Plastic Paradox joined Pierre Paslier CEO and co-founder of NOTPla to debate plastic packaging. Regardless of which side of the aisle you si...

Today's guest is Andy Kurtts, the founder of Buttermilk Creative, a food & beverage packaging agency based in North Carolina. After leaving his full-time position over 5 years ago he launched Buttermilk Creative. Andy set out to build a solid business foundation before designing his first package. Andy shares how he set up his LLC, website, and where he goes to find clients.  Get practical advice...

How do you design packaging for a product and an industry that's not fully legal, and changes regulations daily? Rick Fitzgerald joins us to share his insights into cannabis packaging and how to get started designing for cannabis packaging.  If you want to begin designing packaging for cannabis, you’re going to love this episode. If you’re already designing packaging for Cannabis, you might learn...

What the hell is sustainable packaging anyway? Evelio continues the conversation over drinks to help you identify ways to make your packaging more sustainable and building your brand. It's another late night and Evelio's drinking again letting loose on what it means to be sustainable. He breaks down the old adage of Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle and what that means to a brand and to a designer.  You'...

50 years ago Fabrice was picking up trash in his village, 20 years later he launched one of France's most famous packaging design agencies. Today Fabrice Peltier, world renowned author, shares with us what he's learned about sustainability and why we're in the middle of a revolution.  Get ready to fight for your planet because this revolution isn't jut limited to packaging, it's about product, log...

What the hell is sustainable packaging anyway? It's late, and I'm going to rant about everything I know and how to approach sustainable packaging design. You're going to learn a few things in this one: 1) What questions to ask you supplier, manufacturer, and yourself before you embark on the road to sustainable packaging design. 2) Materials, we're going to have a heart to heart about materials. P...

Jeremy Etchison & Ben Blanchard are the dynamic duo behind SONOS ' Roam packaging. Their team of designers and engineers executed what can be called the future of sustainable tech packaging. A completely recyclable product pack that uses custom paper wrapped corrugated board and molded fiber inserts to cradle and present the ROAM speaker.  We discuss how sustainability was the Northstar t...

Packaging designers have a superpower no other designer has. The ability to reach into the future and create it today. Learn the strategies Clark McDowall use to design packaging for Mars owned Nutro Pet Foods and legacy brand Palmolive. How to spot packaging trends without falling in love with transient trends? Applying this strategic vision to designing packaging with longevity and relevance to...

Want to know how agencies are designing packaging for the future?  Where do packaging innovations breed? Where do you find packaging inspiration? If you’re interested in designing forward thinking packaging that goes beyond just making bags and boxes, you gotta listen to this episode. We talk with Daniel Lowe founder of Someone and Others, a design studio based in LA working on some of the countri...

Simon Van Leuven breaks down what happens to your packaging after it's picked up for recycling. We discuss how to design packaging for sustainability, and how different packaging materials impact the true nature of sustainable packaging design. Simon is someone that I’ve followed for a while and watched many of his videos where he’s out on the job at recycling plants, MRFs, or even outdoors fishin...

How do you design packaging for DTC brands? How do you know how many boxes to buy when you haven't sold anything? How do you time your packaging buys when you're working with projections?  The founders of Last Crumb get into these details and many more. We learn how they developed the packaging that is winning awards and most importantly selling out their weekly cookie drops. At nearly $10 each co...

In our conversation about packaging design for Pride month with Zipeng Zhu, why men's body wash has grip, and why it's important to share your work to build your network. You'll also get, How Zipeng Zhu selects colors when designing packaging, fashion, or digital? Here's a secret his current favorite color is yolk :) Harry's razors hired Zipeng Zhu to develop the packaging for the recent Pride pac...

What is a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and how can you use it to make packaging decisions?  If you're a packaging buyer, a packaging designer, or packaging manufacturer this episode shares insights into the LCA process as well as the value of having a human in the loop to balance the data.  What questions impact data and how understanding the key areas of consumerism can determine the right packaging...

AB InBev's Global Director of Innovation - Packaging, Keenan Thompson shares the process their Global Innovation Technology team uses for designing packaging. We get deep into the process and take apart what innovation actually means. How to take disparate information and mold it into the future when you have the right team at the table. We discuss the team's recent packaging innovation for Corona...

A good packaging designer will create a beautiful design, a great one will design an experience that includes how materials can make you feel. We speak to Annette Clayton with Fedrigoni paper from Verona Italy where you'll learn what makes a paper luxury and how brands can use paper to brand themselves without graphics. This is episode 1 of the Package Design Unboxd, Paper Trade Show. Watch the fu...

Packaging design powerhouse Enlisted Design has designed packaging for brands like All Birds, Fridababy, Linksys, and so many other brands. Beau Oyler CEO of Enlisted shares their approach to designing product and packaging under the same roof. Enlisted isn't just a packaging design agency, they develop and engineer products and establish the branding, delivering the complete turn key product.  We...

The number one rated plastics material expert, Dr. Chris DeArmitt talks about his research on plastic and plastic packaging waste. We discuss how to reduce waste, recycle more packaging, and what questions to ask when considering paper over plastics. According to Chris, his research shows that plastic is the greenest material available for most cases. Listen and you be the judge. This episode is a...

NOTPLA is a seaweed based material used for packaging liquids and now is being turned into heatsealable films that are completely biodegradable and edible. The zero plastics movement is growing and NOTPla is helping the packaging industry look at new ways to develop materials and packagign that does not look like anything we've ever seen. Pierre Paslier is the co-founder and CEO of NOTPla, join us...

Why did McDonald's need a packaging redesign, what was being solved, or how long ago did this project kick-off? we get into the details with Matt Sia, Creative Director at Pearlfisher. We discuss Matt's sketching, the pitch meeting, how the designers are presented, and really what it feels like to overhaul one of the biggest brands on earth. The good and the bad. In this episode you get to here it...

Have you ever wondered how packaging designs and brands navigate timelines And manage all of the moving parts of the complex packaging industry? Have you ever tried to manage your own packaging project from design to manufacturing? Well then you know why project managers are the superstars of the packaging industry. Today we speak with the Project Executioner herself, Megan Gamble a packaging proj...

A big part in packaging design is selecting materials. Are the materials strong enough, flexible enough, do they produce the right amount of cushion? But beyond the protective properties of packaging, we need packaging to connect with consumers and the fastest way to do that is through touch. Selecting paper is an artform. Selecting paper for its printability, scuff reduction, and texture that can...

When it comes to packaging design education there are many paths to take and many times we're unclear with where those paths can take you. In this episode we discuss packaging education and the program Gerardo Herrera has built at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena California.  Art Center focuses on establishing a solid foundation of design, process, and critical thinking in it's to packagin...

When you hear the term circular packaging design or circular economy, many people confuse it to mean recycling.  Even though the recycling logo is a möbius loop, the process is generally linear, not circular. In this episode we talk with Paul Foulkes-Arellano founder of Circuthon, founder of the Sustainable Design Alliance, and an advisor at A Plastic Planet. A Plastic Planet as of this recording...