Packaged Pets (Concept)

Designer: Maria Mordvintseva
Type Of Work: Concept
Country: Russia

I initially came up with the idea while working on one of the briefs for the School of Thoughts creative course in 2013. The task was to come up with an original solution for a social problem. I picked the problem of overpopulation of animals in shelters and made it my goal to come up with an idea that would be funny and inspiring. When the course was finished I decided to create a personal project based around my initial concept.

The solution is based around the idea that all pets have alternative “functions”. Each pet from the shelter gets their individual packaging that features their “function”, character and physical features like weight and age. The packaging also presents information in support of the pet’s function and other little known facts about animals. For example, according to a recent research, cat owners could cut the risk of heart attacks and strokes by more than 1/3 which makes cats great heart support medication. The shelter pets are introduced to people in places where they least expect it: the packaging is placed in corresponding sections of department stores, drug stores, etc.

One of the goals was to make the design adaptable for virtually any cat and dog, so a limited colour palette and a white background were a natural choice. By keeping it simple I also let the pets be the hero. The clean design also helps the packaging to stand out on the shelf.