Box Vox

packaging as content

May 14, 2012

Labeling a Klein Bottle


ACME brand Klein bottles (via)

Felix Klein’s non-orientable, one-sided surface was not originally imagined as a container, but was labeled as such because of a German pun:

The Klein bottle was first described in 1882 by the German mathematician Felix Klein. It may have been originally named the Kleinsche Fläche (“Klein surface”) and that this was incorrectly interpreted as Kleinsche Flasche (“Klein bottle”), which ultimately led to the adoption of this term in the German language as well.

–Wikipedia

At lease one source asserts that Klein’s surface was, for a time, called the Klein jar, but I could not confirm this.

When did they change its name from “Klein Jar” to “Klein Bottle”? Look in any projective geometry book published before, say, 1960 and you will see the above “bottle” referred to as a “Klein Jar.”

Whatever you call it, a Klein surface can serve as a container, albeit a fairly impractical one. If we accept that it’s a container, then what sort of label does it get?

If you draw the letter “R” on a clear label, then slide that label around the outside of a sphere, when you return it to the same place, the letter looks exactly the same. So a sphere is orientable. On a Klein Bottle, you can slide that label around so that the letter reads backwards. To do this, you’ll have to slide the label all the way inside the Klein Bottle (you’ll need a long pipecleaner). When it’s on the other side of the glass from where it started, the label will read as the mirror image. That’s nonorientable.

ACME Kline Bottle FAQ

This idea of the label sliding on its one-sided surface all the way into the inside of the Klein bottle and then being backwards, is a recurring theme.


Labeled Klein bottle (via Matematita); Poster by IDeAS

The image on the left demonstrates the backwards inner label. The Klein bottle on the right is decorated with an abstract symmetrical design which would look the same whether it was on the inside or the outside. (A good idea for Klein bottle branding: ambigrams.)

While ACME does not, for the most part, label their bottles, they do sell a flask with their logo…

… and that logo employs backwards & forwards type on a Mobius strip to highlight the product’s non-orientability.

(The “Klein stein” and filling a Method/Klein bottle, after the fold…) (more…)

March 28, 2012

Preston Grubbs’s Spherical Wedge Juice Packs

When I first saw these pictures of Preston Grubbs’s orange-colored, orange-shaped juice box concept, it reminded of other packages, designed to resemble their contents. (Or their origins.)

We’ve seen packages shaped like whole oranges and packages shaped like half an orange and, at first, what I thought I was seeing here were juice boxes shaped like an 1/8 of an orange. But that’s not right. The net bag contains 10 pieces. As if an orange were cut into 5 longitudinal, spherical wedge shaped pieces and the cut in half along the equator.

See also: Package as Skin, Packaging and Plastic Fruit and Terry’s Chocolate Oranges

–Randy Ludacer

March 21, 2012

Plaited Polyhedra: “Stimulating and Practical”

“Not only are these shapes attractive to the eye, they provide yet another example of the way apparently dull and complex research often comes up with something stimulating and practical.”

This 1960 newsreel, about an unconventional teaching method for mathematics used by Southampton schoolmaster, Robert Pargeter, focuses on his plaiting technique for weaving polyhedral models. (via: British Pathé)

The film makes much of the fact that the models do not require gluing. Not needing glue is also seen as a good thing in package design, when it can be achieved. But here the narrator lightly suggests that glue “somehow doesn’t seem to mix with school boys” which made me wonder why. (Because it’s messy? Because 1960s school boys sniff glue?)

The “19th Century doctor” mentioned as the inspiration for Pargeter’s project must have been John Gorham and his 1888 “A System for the Construction of Crystal Models on the Type of an Ordinary Plait” must be the “article” that the film briefly alludes to.

What is not mentioned is that, in 1959, Pargeter, himself, published an article in The Mathematical Gazette, entitled “Plaited Polyhedra.” A page from that article appears below…

As much as I love it when package design goes polyhedral (see examples of rhombic dodecahedron and stella octangula) packaging constructed in the manner of Pargeter’s plaiting of a great dodecahedron, is perhaps, not so practical.

Although plaited baskets are doubtless one of the earliest precursors to modern packaging. And, in fact, John Edminster’s tri-tuck closure and other overlapping flaps show that certain degree of “plaiting” is already in evidence in the construction of folding cartons.

Still, complex containers requiring this type of skill are surely more of a craft than an industry. It’s hard to imagine what sort of polyhedral loom would be needed to automate a “Pargeter’s plaited packaging” method.

And yet again, if the Jacquard loom could automate the weaving of impossibly complex fabrics in the 1800s —laying the groundwork for what would eventually become computer programing— it might be a mistake to assume that complexity makes a concept impractical.

If you’re wondering who that guy is at the very beginning, I figure they must have segued from a previous segment in a series of newsreels. That guy must be Robert Welch who designed modern. stainless steel cutlery.

(One more stimulating 1880 mathematical model from Gorham, after the fold…)

(more…)

March 19, 2012

Annabelle Soucy’s Fusion Tea Pack

Annabelle Soucy’s a polyhedral 6-pack for tea. A simple exterior and complex interior, make this a structural “surprise package” much in the same way that Milagros Maria Bouroncle Rodriguez’s T package offered interior surprises. Soucy’s cube-shaped “Fusion” tea package dissects into 6 space-filling pyramids—each section containing a pyramid-shaped tea bag. (via: Packaging | UQAM)

The structure is actually very close to Jessica Comin’s transforming “laranja mecánica” chocolate package. And although the pictures do not show it, I believe Soucy’s package design would be similarly capable of being turned inside out into a rhombic-dodecahedron with a cube-shaped interior.

Animated gif from Apollonius Math

Not that Soucy’s Tea package needs to transform into rhombic-dodecahedron with a cube-shaped interior. I’m just saying. It’s interesting.

(One more photo, after the fold…) (more…)

February 20, 2012

Stickney & Poor’s Spiral Peppersauce Bottle

One last thing before we wind up last week’s “spiral bottle” thread…

From 1884, Stickney & Poor’s patented bottle design for a hexagonal spiral glass bottle. Like many figural glass bottles of the time, the structural packaging concept trumps the graphic design…

“These bottles were neck labeled since labels could not adhere well to the lumpy body.”

via: Society for Historical Archaeology

The non-spiral neck portion was labeled like this…

(See also Dr. Fisch’s Bitters in which a figural, fish shaped bottle was labeled on the bottom.)

(Rufus Barrus Stickney’s design patent, after the fold…)

(more…)

February 17, 2012

Collapsible Spiral Bottles

Following the spiral thread a bit longer, there’s been quite a bit of inventive energy spent on making bottles collapse in a spiral pattern.

Similar to the accordion bottles we looked at last year, except that each of these bottles uses a helix-shaped bellows, rather than a bellows built from congruent circles.

These packages are also designed to take up less space after use. Similar to Jiwoon Park and Kwenyoung Choi’s twistable “Nnew Can” concept (see: Helix Redux) there is something intuitive and interactive about crushing a pack by twisting.

The patent drawings above are from 1993, 2010 & 2011.

Alessio Venturi’s “Spiral Bottle” concept, on right, won an honorable mention in the 2004 Macef Design Awards:

DREAM OF ECOLOGICAL BOTTLE

The characteristic SPIRAL shape, besides assuring as easy identification of the product, involves an easy management of the empty which will be reduced in size by pressing it and will not occupy much room in the dustbin.

(via: DesignBoom)

(Norwood, Dickie, and Jung’s patented bottles, after the fold…) (more…)

February 16, 2012

Spiral Neck Bottles

We did a round-up of helical bottles in 2010, but recently I’ve been noticing more examples.

The Welde-Biere bottle (on the right) strikes me as a radically different form from the subtle spiral of a vintage Pepsi bottle. This bottle is designed more like a ram’s horn. It’s not just the larger gauge of the shape twisting around. Earlier Squirt soda bottles were based on a similarly large spiral ridge. I think it’s partly because it’s the neck and not the body that’s twisting. A helix wrapping around a cylinder establishes more of a regular repeating pattern. A spiraling tapered neck, however, gives Welde’s bottles a wonky, less uniform look.

It was a look they fought hard to have trademarked when their initial application was refused. And even when trademarked, their bottle was so specific a shape that they were unable to prevent Kofola “Snipp” from using a shorter bottle with a less pronounced spiraling neck. (on left)

In the Judgement of the Court:

“…the mere fact that the two bottles have a helically formed neck does not lead to the conclusion that there is a likelihood of confusion…”

The earlier Squirt bottle, shown below, had a spiral body, but a plain, conical-shaped neck. The Welde bottles, with their plain, cylindrical bodies and spiral necks, reverse this.

In another recent spiral necked bottle, the helix is actually an internal feature. O-I’s “Vortex” bottle for Miller Lite uses embossed internal ridges to encourage a novel, twisting pour.

(Some Vortex bottle videos, after the fold…) (more…)

February 13, 2012

Vertical-Horizontal Jar

An unusual example of vertical/horizontal ambidexterity in packaging: Glen Robert Carpenter’s 1937 “Design for a Jar.”

Like Donald Deskey’s 1954 Drene carton (or the 2008 Lego Fruit Snacks box), this jar can be displayed in two positions. I don’t know what product this jar was meant to contain… maybe a counter dispenser jar for candy?

(Carpenter’s package  design patent, after the fold…)

(more…)

December 8, 2011

Wooden Packaging

WoodenPacksTop row: Anicka Yi and Maggie Peng’s cedar-encased fragrance bottles; 2nd row, left: Andrée Rouette’s ABCD veneer-covered maple syrup cans (via Packaging UQAM); 2nd row, right:  Espen Hansen’s veneer-covered AO Vinje gin box; 3rd row, left: Society27’s wooden shoebox; 3rd row, right & below: Léo Breton-Allaire’s spruce gum chewing gum concept (via: Packaging UQAM); 4th row left & below right: Maude Bussières’s detachable wooden pencils concept (via Packaging UQAM); 5th row, left: Debowa oak-encased vodka bottles; bottom row: Gerlinde Gruber’s wooden, puzzle-like jewelry box

Packages made of wood (See also: Wood Framed Bottles)

Randy Ludacer
Beach Packaging Design

November 16, 2011

2 More Trapezoidal Boxes

2TrapezoidalBoxes

Did a round-up of trapezoidal boxes a while back. Here are two more that I thought looked good together. They’re not new.

The one on the left is Milner Gray’s modern/classic package design for a 1950s Pyrex gift set (No.3a). I like how the handle (and the dark color) make this carton look like a hefty, 1-ton weight.  (via: BurningSettlersCabin)

The one on the right is a flat, trapezoid-shaped box for the ARC6 flashlight. (Now discontinued.)

Pairing them up together, I thought the ARC’s embossed “burst” logo sort of related to the Pyrex crown logo. And it also looks, in this photo, as if the ARC6 box had a silver-grey neutral color, matching the black & white Pyrex packaging photo. That, I think, is a misperception based on a skillfully lighted “hero shot.” The ARC6 flashlight box seems to have actually been white. (via: CPF Reviews)

(Another photo, after the fold…)

(more…)

November 7, 2011

Polyhedral Butter Pack Patent

PolyhedralButterPack

Albert Lowenfel, president of the Hotel Bar Butter Company until retiring in 1955, is credited with having invented the butter carton. (Prior to that, it was sold by the pound from large tubs.)

He began to sell butter in 1931 under a brand name and in quarter pound sticks. It took 10 years for the packaged butter to catch on.

from Albert Lowenfels’ obituary in the Norwalk Hour, June 5, 1969

One of Lowenfels’ inventions that did not catch on was the triangular, prism-shaped carton above. (See also: Close Packing)

Randy Ludacer
Beach Packaging Design

October 31, 2011

Hexagonal Halloween Candy Package Design

Trick-R-Treat

(A vintage, hexagonal, head-shaped carton with a jack-o’-lantern style die-cut face.) According to the Candy Professor:

“This hexagonal carton is an award winning package distributed by the Sierra Candy Company in 1956.”

Not clear who designed the package or what entitity awarded the award. The same box appears to have also been used by the J.D. Fine Candy Company. (Color photos are from Bindlegrim’s Flickr Photostream; the black and white photo is from Confectioners’s Journal, April 1956)

Trick-R-Treat-open

Randy Ludacer
Beach Packaging Design

October 17, 2011

3 More Accordion Packs

More-Accordions

In August we looked at some accordion-like packages that featured “bellows” mechanisms that allowed them to expand and contract. More examples have been popping up recently…

1. Nick Seville’s “Shaker Straws” duplicate the effect of a bendable straw. His solution to an assignment about packaging-as-added-value:

“…the brief was to repackage a pound shop item to make it worth double the price. This was achieved by creating a product that stood out on the shelves and made it more interactive for the customer to get a feel for the product.”

Consumers might regard it as a cynical ploy —a package designed to double the price of an item— but it does serve as an important reminder that an elaborate package will surely increase the retail price of a product.
Shaker-straws

2. Éva Valicsek’s “egg box” uses an accordion-like structure for egg packaging. Here the structure mainly serves to provide stabililty for the eggs, but the flexibility of the bellows structure allows the eggs to be easily inserted or removed from the carton.

Her labeling scheme also includes the barcode as a graphic design element —(similar to a CD package we looked at in 2009).
Egg-Carton

3. Directions Marketing’s “Tritainer” dog food concept (Grand Prize Winner in “Project 2020: The Consumer Experience”) makes compression a key feature:

“Accordion-type compression reduces container height as product is dispensed, and when empty, the container eventually folds flat for easy recyclability.”

Alpha

Randy Ludacer
Beach Packaging Design

October 14, 2011

Chained Tetrahedral Portion Packs

Koolo-patent

I saw Serge Rhéaume’s 3-pack powdered drink concept (above left) on Packaging|UQAM and my first thought was that it was another example of packaging in which individual portions are contained in connected polyhedral shapes. (See: Chained Polyhedral Portion Packs)

TetraPakManufactureBut as a chain of tetrahedron-shaped packages it also reminded me of something else… The most successful and well-known tetrahedron-shaped packages are Ruben Rausing’s Tetra-Pak (classic), which are similarly connected in a chain during manufacture, but then cut apart. (See inset)

The inspiration for Tetra-Pak’s manufacturing process, reportedly came to Rausing while watching his wife making sausages. (Note: sausages are also available as manufactured — in a chain of connected individual portions.)

The idea of selling multipacks of connected tetrahedrons is a very good one, and Rhéaume is not the first to think of it.

The illustration above, right is from Wolfgang Jobmann’s 1999 European patent for a “Chain of Individual Packages”…

Packaging arrangement for soft drinks
A packaging arrangement consists of a series of five individual tetrahedral packs (A, B, C, D, E) each of which is linked to the neighboring pack by a flat strip (10, 11, 12, 13). The strip has a line of perforations by which individual packs may be removed from the group of five.

(Jobmann’s 1999 patent and others, after the fold…)

(more…)

September 19, 2011

Polyhedral Light Bulb Packaging
(Structural Package Design Patent from 1970)

PolyhedralLightBulbPack1

Bryon L. Lessar’s octahedral “Package for Light Bulbs” was patented in 1972.

PolyhedralLightBulbPack2

(First page of Lessar’s patent appears, after the fold…)

(more…)

September 13, 2011

Honeycombs and Structural Package Design:
More Ways of Taking Up Space

Gyrobifastigium I recently received an email from an eminant mathematician, citing errors in a 2008 post in which I listed the 5 polyhedral shapes with regular faces that could be arranged in space-filling “honeycomb” configurations. I went back and reconsidered my earlier survey and realized that I had, indeed, made a mistake.

Although I was apparently correct about the number of space-filling polyhedrons with regular faces, one of the examples I gave did not belong in the set: the rhombic dodecahedron.

There are only five space-filling convex polyhedra with regular faces: the triangular prism, hexagonal prism, cube, truncated octahedron, and gyrobifastigium.

Wolfram MathWorld

If the point had been that all the faces be “regular,” I should have included the gyrobifastigium—two joined triangular prisms (above). The rhombic dodecahedron (below) while highly symmetrical with identically shaped (congruent) faces, did not fit the bill, since each of those faces was rhombus-shaped and therefore not regular.

RhombicDodecahedrons
Really, I should have just omitted “regular faces” as a requirement. For our purposes here, there’s nothing about the squares, equilateral triangles, regular hexagons, etc. that makes these five polyhedral shapes more suitable as packages. If the point had been that the packages should fit together with no space in between, there are many more than five examples. How many?

Being careful to avoid contributing any further to the misinformation on the internet… I would have to say, (based on what I read about space-filling polyhedra on Wolfram’s MathWorld site) that the number is in the 100s. At least.

Another space-filling polyhedron (with non-regular faces) that I like pretty well is the trapezo-rhombic dodecahedron.

Trapezo-rhombic-dodecahedro

I also like Ruggero Gabbrielli’s space-filling polyhedron below with 13 faces…

13Faces

“A new space-filling polyhedron with 13 faces. Halfway between the rhombic dodecahedron and the truncated octahedron.”

There are also space-filling polyhedrons with concave portions that fit together in interesting, puzzle-like ways.

The Wolfram site mentions an attempt do a fuller reckoning of all the space-filling possibilites:

“In the period 1974-1980, Michael Goldberg attempted to exhaustively catalog space-filling polyhedra… more space-fillers have been found subsequently… A modern survey would be welcome.”

You know who would not be qualified to do a survey like that? …

Randy Ludacer
Beach Packaging Design

September 12, 2011

Boxes with Diagonal Motif

DiagonalMotif
Stella

I don’t have a good name for this effect. The rectangular sufaces of the top two boxes are more or less bisected into two triangles, which (depending on how these areas are colored) can create geometric “wrap-around” effects.

And the side panels of the “Stella in Two“ boxes by Made Thought are also divided by diagonal lines. (via)

Randy Ludacer
Beach Packaging Design

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