Jan 22, 2010

Recycled Custom Packaging

I just finished printing a small run of business cards for Ann Arbor-based Communications Designer, Rebekka Kuhn. Rebekka designed the cards and placed an order with Elevated Press to have 150 of them printed. They were printed with black ink on a super pale blue paper with natural flecks in it, and I think the cards turned out great!

 I did encounter one tiny problem when it came time to pack-up the order for her. I just didn't have a box small enough for the small run of cards.  I always try to recycle packaging materials whenever possible, so I came up with the idea of creating a custom box out of a flat piece of cardboard that I had in the studio. I started with the base of the box, and scored the areas that would create the walls on two sides of the box. Then I scored and cut the two remaining sides. Without getting too detailed (i.e. boring), I basically scored and folded the cardboard around the stack of cards, as close to a standard box type as possible.

Here is the finished box, which I wrapped with packaging tape to cover-up the rougher scored edges. Not perfect, but it does the trick... Next time, I think it'll turn-out even better.

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