Task 3

Create Roughs for an Eco Paints Container

 Idea 1 - cartons/tetra packs

Here are some rough sketches of an idea to use tetra packs to hold paint. The packs are triangular shaped so packs or four can be held together by a recyclable cardboard sleeve. The design is minimal, using as less resources as possible - only gives important information and examples of colour in vegetable ink. 
Tetra packs - light weight, easy portability, space saving - fewer trucks required to ship larger volumes of products.
The problem with this type of packaging is that it is hard to recycle, due to the many layers of different materials used to make the pack -

Tetra Pak Containers Information





Idea 2 - Tins
Strong, durable, and could be reusable/refillable/recycled.

Plain tin with label tied on with rope or string - avoids use of glue. 

Plain tin with sleeve over the top. Sleeve has minimal design, with title, necessary information and colour example. On the flipped side of the sleeve is an aesthetic pattern, that can be put back onto the tin so it can be used as something else - plant pot or storage for example. 

People who buy a lot of paint may not want a large collection of these decorative tins building up, so I also came up with an idea of paint sets - Plain tins packaged in a cardboard box. Box would contain info and colour examples in vegetable ink, and would not require glue.

More tin designs, and possible ideas for bottle designs. Plastic can be lightweight and transparent, so the paint is easily viewed. It can also be recycled, and be made like the PlantBottle of Coca-Cola. 

Coca-Cola PlantBottle Information

Task 2

Vegetable ink printing - Soy Ink

• Design to minimize the ecological footprint - Reduces the consumption of petroleum based ink. 
• Design to exclude the use of toxic/hazardous substances - majority of the ink is made up of natural sources - vegetables/soy bean.
• Design to exclude innovation lethargy - soy ink does the same job as 'normal' ink.
• Design to create more sustainable products - The base of the ink comes from a renewable source.
• Design to satisfy real needs, as opposed to transient, fashionable or market driven needs - It works as an average ink, that creates text people can read and images for people to look at, nothing fancy or over the top. 
• Design to engender maximum benefits to the intended audience and to educate the client and user and thereby create a more equable future - The printing company featured in the video are concerned as they put out a lot of toxic chemicals that could have an impact, so they chose to use soy ink. 'Customer and industry drive to make a more environmentally friendly product'.

Task 1

'The Age of Stupid' film

In session 1, we watched a film about global warming - 'The Age of Stupid' (Franny Armstrong, 2009). I wrote down a few notes of subjects that caught my interest but the one that stood out to me was the idea of wind farms and how local people were so against the idea. I noticed this as before now I have passed signs on roads in the countryside that had such things as 'say no to wind farms' written on them. This issue is evidently prominent across the UK but sadly it seems the main reason people don't like the idea is that it is aesthetically unpleasing or that it ruins the view from their window (blot on the landscape).
I think that renewable energy is very important and that the world should be embracing any opportunity to use it. The common problem of local people fighting against having wind turbines could be avoided if they were built in places where people couldn't see them so often, such as in the sea perhaps (offshore wind farms). But I do agree that, building too many wind turbines could ruin the countryside. I think that in the future more wind farms will be built within the UK, despite whether people protest against them or not, as main resources (oil) will become more expensive as it gets used up quicker by the ever expanding population.
An article about the pros and cons of onshore wind energy that I found interesting-  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/sep/25/climate-change-windpower
Information about Wind energy -
http://www.coemiwindturbines.co.uk/coemi-wind-turbines-general-information/faq--frequently-asked-questions




Pros -It is a proven technology, comparatively cheap, quick to install, renewable energy.
Cons - Not 100% green, noise pollution, eye-sore, they don't produce electricity 24/7.