Pizza Box Redesign
creating a pizza box that would be easier to transport on a bicycle
Role: Package Designer
Duration: 3 weeks
Tools: paper & pencil, cardboard, box cutter, string
Process: research, form exploration; low-fi sketches; prototypes; usability test
Advisor: Donna Cohn, Associate Professor of Applied Design, Hampshire College
Design Challenge:
to create an alternative pizza box for users on bicycles.
Design Opportunities
Time and budget constraints limit the ability to build multiple to-scale prototypes. The final product must be environmentally conscious, meaning reduced materials, and sturdy enough to transport a large pizza for a 15 minute bike ride.
eco-friendly
uses as few resources as possible
cardboard
low-cost & easily found material
8 slices
safely fits a large pizza
Context
This project was inspired after seeing a college student struggling to balance a pizza box on his bike’s handlebars. It’s an awkward size, and much too big to hold at the same time as steering. This was the problem for many college students on campus as the nearest pizza place is a 15 minute bike ride from campus. Additionally, the majority of 2nd-4th year students live in on campus apartments that don’t include access to the dining hall. College students are known for not being the best cooks and prone to setting off fire alarms, so it would serve everyone’s best interests (including the fire department’s!) if students had a small reliable container to transport full sized pizzas back to campus.
Form Exploration
Initial ideations inspired by vintage bakery boxes, nesting boxes, and individual pizza slice boxes.
Prototyping
With a focus on the key features listed below, the design was tested using a large pizza.
compact size
​​the pizza box is about 14" long, 7" wide, and 3" deep
-- cutting the width of a regular pizza box almost exactly in half.
(a traditional large pizza box’s dimensions are
14 â…›"x 14 â…›"x 1 ¾")
Results
This prototype proved successful and well received by members of the class. After its trial bike ride, the pizza was in tact and no toppings had shifted. It was a bonus that the box was easier to pass from one person to another as it was being shared among participants.
"The first project of the semester was to devise a student friendly method of transporting a pizza via bicycle. Students were asked to brainstorm ideas, build a model, and then build a working prototype that could be tested with an actual pizza. Marietta’s design was simple, elegant and effective; she fashioned a double layer of two half sized pizza boxes, and wrapped a string around it like a bakery cake box."
Donna Cohn
Design for the Greater Good, Fall 2011
Lessons Learned
This project served as a well rounded introduction to the design process. In future iterations, different thicknesses of string or rope could be used. Along with adding notches to the side and top of the box so that it stays even more firmly in place.