Interaction Design · Project 1 of 3 · Weeks 1–5
Package Design Project 3: Single Serve Food Package
Designing for appetite, shelf presence, and the moment of consumption
FORMAT
Archived — past iteration, content absorbed into Less / Forever and The 7 Deadly Sins
WEEKS
8–11
METHODS
Sensory marketing research · Food packaging material analysis · Structural prototyping · Adobe Illustrator · Adobe Photoshop · Surface graphic design · Nutritional information layout · Digital mockup · Iterative critique
TAGS
Package Design, Sustainability, Design Education, Design Thinking
Why this project
The single-serve food package embodies many of the design challenges in packaging: maintaining structural integrity, complying with regulations, communicating sensory qualities, competing on shelves, establishing brand identity, and minimizing environmental impact—all in a form meant for one-time use and quick disposal. This complex problem led to strong work over multiple semesters.
However, it did not connect smoothly to the projects on either side. In the four-project course, the package was positioned between Material is the Message and the Beverage Design capstone. Each introduced new topics—food safety, sensory marketing, shelf appeal—without building on previous analytical frameworks or preparing students for the expressive and branding demands of the capstone. As a result, the course felt episodic: four interesting, separate projects without a clear overall narrative.
The redesigned three-project course addresses this by removing the standalone food package project and embedding its key pedagogical content into the other projects. Sustainability and material reasoning from food packaging now appear in Less / Forever. The brand system and visual identity work from the packaging are incorporated into The 7 Deadly Sins, which is now focused on beverage design, allowing the expressive and conceptual ambitions of the capstone to develop more fully.
The Brief
PROJECT PROMPT
Design packaging for a single-serve food item of your selection. The design should be structurally sound, effectively showcase the product on shelves, incorporate sensory marketing principles, include necessary regulatory details (such as ingredient list, nutritional information, weight, allergens), and consider the environmental impact of your packaging materials.
Before designing, research the food packaging industry to understand current standards, identify opportunities for differentiation, and determine your target consumers' immediate needs at the point of purchase and during consumption.
DELIVERABLE
Product and category research documentation
Structural sketches and dieline
Final prototype: physically constructed with applied surface graphics
All regulatory information included and correctly formatted
Digital mockup
Brand rationale: written statement connecting visual identity decisions to product, category, and consumer
Self-assessment — see separate assignment sheet
What I've learned from running this
The single-serve food package projects consistently demonstrated strong individual execution. Students who selected products related to their personal knowledge — such as their cultural food traditions, dietary restrictions, or specific food practices — created work with clarity and authority that students designing for generic categories could not achieve. The project helped develop real skills like regulatory layout, sensory communication, and shelf-context thinking.
However, it did not result in a coherent semester-long progression. Teaching four distinct packaging categories — gift boxes, material exploration, food packaging, and beverage design — meant each project was a fresh start. Knowledge from Project 1 was not explicitly built upon in Project 3. Sustainability ideas from Project 2 were not required in Project 3. Each project was individually strong but did not form a cohesive body of work.
The revised course redesign asks Project 2 to focus more on sustained analytical work, and Project 3 to emphasize more sustained expressive work. It removes the middle project that aimed to do both without excelling in either, streamlining the overall flow. The key topics of food packaging — sensory marketing, regulatory requirements, and shelf-context thinking — are integrated into lectures and readings for the updated Projects 2 and 3, eliminating the need for a dedicated four-week module.