Sutton Tools
Project Overview
The Challenge
For this project, the challenge was to create new packaging designs for Sutton Tools' holesaw range. The main focus of this redesign was to reduce the amount of plastic waste associated with the packaging. Alongside this, we also needed to make the products visible as customer feedback highlighted the difficulty in buying the tools without being able to see their exact size and material in the current packaging. The shape of the tools needed a unique design to meet these two primary requirements.
The Solution
Working closely with the brand guidelines already established by the client, it allowed us to create a product that could be readily visualised as part of their brand. When I finished my time with Cobalt Design, we had finalised a prototype design that had been approved by the client. Since then, the new packaging for the Sutton Tools holesaw range is currently available in leading hardware stores across Australia and the new design is being implemented across their entire range of tools.
Applying the brand
My involvement with this project began shortly before a scheduled meeting with the client when the product design asked if I would be able to create packaging graphics matching these sketched outlines. This design was picked by the client and they requested that the graphics were then developed further alongside the packaging shape.
With this being the chosen design, I had to further my knowledge of the brand to ensure that I carried their guidelines across to this product so that it would not have to be redesigned due to inaccurate information. I discovered that not only were Sutton very descriptive with their guidelines, but that a lot of their existing products did not match their own rules set out by the company. As the shape of the packaging developed, I experimented more with the different information and the best ways to present it.
Creating the packaging
As you can see from the image on the right, the final shape of this packaging is very unusual. The printed part of the packaging was one continuous strip of card, and so this required a lot of calculating to ensure that each part of the label filled the plastic container effectively and did not obscure the visibility of the tool.
There were over 15 different sizes of packaging to consider when putting these initial designs together, and so I had to create prototypes for each size to test the adaptability of the design.
Here you can see the final prototype I worked on alongside the current design that is now being used. Since the launch of this packaging design, it has been implemented across more ranges of tools and it is now possible to see an updated design across the suite of products.
