Daler Rowney – Dip Pen Set

Design: Ariel Sativa
Project Type: Student Project
School: Vancouver Island University
Course: Graphic design
Tutor: Nancy page
Location: Nanaimo, Canada
Packaging Contents: Calligraphy Set
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Cardstock, Magnet
Printing Process: Digital Printing

Daler Rowney – Dip Pen Set – Environmentally Friendly Package Redesign
Project: Find an overly packaged product, and design a new, more environmentally friendly package with the intended audience, brand standards, shelf placement, and shelf life in mind.

My intended audience is creative people who are looking to expand their creative abilities to calligraphy, before buying an expensive calligraphy set. I wanted to redesign this package to better suit my intended audience, as well as being more environmentally friendly. I chose to eliminate plastic all together, use as much recyclable materials as possible, and have the final package be durable and attractive enough to be reused and repurposed.

The main issues of the original packaging was that it was made of non recyclable materials, the package was not reusable, and therefore all of the tiny pieces in the calligraphy set were easy to lose. The extra nibs are also quite sharp, and the user risked getting cut or stabbed when they opened the package. My goal was to create a safe, secure container to hold the nibs and protect the users from danger, and from losing the nibs once it is opened. The package originally told users what size each nib produced, but didn’t tell users what they should use it for. I wanted to create more in depth instructions for the calligraphy beginners that would be using this set.

Calligraphy is seen to be a fancy and elegant hobby, but the original package looked cheap and unattractive. I wanted to still use value priced materials, so as not to increase the price, but create a much more rich and exciting experience for the user. I chose to use cardstock to keep costs low, while still ensuring that it is recyclable if the user decides not to reuse it. There ended up being more material used in my final product than the original, but all of the plastic was eliminated, and the user can now reuse the container for their calligraphy set, or repurpose it for various other items such as pencils, jewelry, money, and makeup or paint brushes. I created two separate boxes, so that the user can store or transport the extra nibs and pen separately or together as they choose. I decided on a hexagon shaped container to separate the product from it’s competitors in craft stores which were mostly flat disposable packages, or cylindrical tubes. The hexagon shape allows the boxes to fit together like a puzzle on shelves, and creates a unique, eye-catching shape when they are all next to each other.

I used a small, inexpensive magnet in the nib box to ensure that they would stay in place, and be less likely to be lost. It also eliminates the possibility of the user being stabbed or cut when they are opening the package. The nib box nestles into the main container that holds the pen and instructions, which makes it easy to keep together and transport.

I kept the information that is printed on the actual container to a minimum so that it is still attractive if it is repurposed, while still advertising the brand. The information sleeve tell the user what they can use the set for, and tells them about its environmentally friendly attributes. The sleeve fits tightly on the container, but comes off with a slight tug revealing the rest of the decorative design on the package. Since my intended audience is people who are just starting calligraphy, I added the stroke information provided on the original package into an instruction page, in addition to some extra suggestions for when and what they should use each nib for.

The final piece nestles together for easy transport, and can be stored and reused together or separately. The shiny cardstock protects the product from various environmental factors such as being tossed around with other items in a bag, open air, fingers, ink, and minor moisture.