Pineapple Packaging

Opportunity

The classic brown box isn’t suited for high-end e-retail items. Despite luxury branding on the inside, the unboxing experience is often underwhelming. We saw an opportunity to create a consistent, premium e-retail experience by:

• Reducing waste – Easier disposal of shipping materials.
• Lowering shipping & material costs - Less bulk, more efficiency for retailers.
• Enhancing product protection – Decreasing breakage rates for fragile items.
• Improving sustainability - Encouraging eco-friendly online shopping.

Needfinding

Before designing, we needed to understand the full shipping journey—from online order to final delivery.

A visit to Williams-Sonoma provided firsthand insights. Denise, the inventory and online orders manager, happened to receive a shipment of fractured wine glasses that same day, reinforcing that protecting fragile items in transit remains a critical issue.

Ideation

We explored a range of structural packaging solutions, taking inspiration from:

• Tetris-like interlocking pieces for structural integrity.
• Intricately ben cardboard for better shock absorption.
• Tessellated folding patterns that eliminate the need for excess padding.

Our final design was a fully recyclable, single-sheet tessellated paperboard structure. This eliminated the need for bubble wrap or excess packaging, relying instead on strategic folds for durability.

Material Testing

To ensure both protection and cost-effectiveness, we tested various materials on an MTS machine to analyze their elastic modulus. Based on material performance tests and UPS shipping safety standards, we selected 80 GM paper—lightweight, cost-effective, and optimal for protection.

Origami-Inspired Design

Mastering the folding mechanism was critical for scalability and manufacturability. Inspired by origami, our packaging design:

• Uses strategic folds for added strength & rigidity.
• Adapts to modular sizing—scaling easily by adjusting row & column count.
• Utilizes biodegradable adhesive to seal edges.
• Incorporates a bioplastic shrink wrap for additional security.

Design Validation

To test our prototype, we shipped a fragile wine glass in the Pineapple package via UPS. Despite some minor external damage, the wine galss inside remained completely intact—validating our approach and getting us closer towards sustainable packaging solutions.