Published with the support of Package Design Magazine, this is a comprehensive guide to thinking outside the box to create practical, cost-effective, and eco-responsible packaging. With a broad ...
If toys are supposed to make magic, shouldn’t they say so on the shelf? With earth-friendly packaging and distinctly different colors, B. toys do just that.
Gisela Voss, principal and creative director of DoodleDo Design & Development Environment, designs the toys and built the brand’s marketing and branding team for Battat Inc. (Mont-Royal, QC, Canada), which launched B. toys. The toy company’s goals are to inspire its young fans to “B” curious, smart, creative, caring, socially responsible, and much more. It celebrates differences and promotes the planet; it also gives 10 cents of every purchase to Free the Children, a charity founded by a 12-year-old and chosen by Voss.
“Battat gave me a very wide brush to paint with,” says Voss, “and the creative opportunity to take anything I ever wanted to do in all my years in toymaking and throw it at a brand.” After hiring Andrea Gavin (design specialist) and Amy Flanagan (the writer half) to do the marketing and branding, the first color Voss painted with her wide brush was green for the environment.
Voss’ ultimate goal was to have as little packaging as possible. The packaging it does have is made from recycled—and recyclable—materials and printed with soy inks and water varnishes. Die-cut display boxes become pretty trays to hold little treasures; bags and ties made of recycled polypropylene feel like fabric and are reusable and biodegradable. The clear plastic used in the toys themselves, as well as in the packaging, is easily recycled #1 PET. Every toy comes with a gift tag, and brown kraft paper is the covering of choice.
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