Sustainable Packaging for Stasher’s "Bowls on the Go"
Role: Lead Designer | Company: Stasher | Project Scope: L
The Stasher Bowls packaging was designed to stand out on retail shelves while conveying the brand’s commitment to sustainability. Through in-depth audience research and cross-functional collaboration, I lead a cross-disciplinary team to develop packaging that appealed to both consumers and retail buyers. The line successfully launched in over 120 brick-and-mortar stores nation-wide.
Background
Stasher creates high-quality, reusable silicone bags that are designed to replace disposable plastic options. With an emphasis on sustainability, their products offer an eco-friendly and practical way to store food, organize belongings, and reduce waste.
Objective
Stasher Bowls was a new silhouette from Stasher made from the same premium materials but meant to stand up and stay open for meals on the go. With no existing packaging, my job was to concept, design, and produce the line for our brick-and-mortar retailers
Stasher Bowls was a new silhouette from Stasher made from the same premium materials but meant to stand up and stay open for meals on the go. With no existing packaging, my job was to concept, design, and produce the line for our brick-and-mortar retailers
A look at my process
Though each project is unique, the following displays my typical approach to creative problem solving and project execution:
learn
Audit of Stasher's current branding, packaging, and their competition
Understanding our audience
With any creative project, understanding the relevant audiences is key. For this project, the audiences spanned beyond end consumers—but also covered folks interacting within the sales and merchandising capacities.
Methods for learning insights about these audiences include internal and external interviews, sales data, and marketing data including email surveys, social media statistics, and external market research.
TRADE AUDIENCE: INTERACT WITH THE PACKAGING BEFORE IT HITS SHELVES
Sarah the Saleswoman
Internal Stasher Sales team
Extremely familiar with product benefits
Looking to add bowls to their existing product offerings within their accounts
Will look to packaging as a selling tool to buyers
Belinda the Buyer
On the merchandising team at brick and mortar retail stores
Most likely already familiar with the Stasher brand and existing product offerings
Wants to keep their store selection relevant and sell through inventory
END CONSUMERS: BRICK AND MORTAR SHOPPERS
Sammy Stasher-Squad
Heads to the retailer to look for Stasher products
Values sustainability and prioritizes lifestyle brands that share this value
Aware of existing Stasher brand and offerings
Susan Storage-Seeker
Heads to the retailer to find storage solutions, but does not necessarily seek out Stashe
Finds Stasher while shopping in the storage aisle
Not necessarily familiar with Stasher brand or products
Stanley Stumble-Upon
Stumbles upon Stasher products while shopping at the retailer, not necessarily for storage solutions
Not generally familiar with Stasher brand or mission
Prioritizes functionality and practicality in order to justify price
Explore
Finding Inspiration
Early Sketches and prototypes
CONCEPT
Refined concepts
Illustration explorations
After several iterations and rounds of feedback from stakeholders, we narrowed the concept down to a final solution. In an effort to include illustrations without taking up too much valuable real estate, we opted for a rounded insert that could sit inside the bowl—giving us brand reinforcement and even some space to include care instructions.
Final concept
CONCEPT
Refined concepts
Illustration explorations
Final concept
After several iterations and rounds of feedback from stakeholders, we narrowed the concept down to a final solution. In an effort to include illustrations without taking up too much valuable real estate, we opted for a rounded insert that could sit inside the bowl—giving us brand reinforcement and even some space to include care instructions.
Build
Now that we had our final concept, it was time to implement it across the entire product line. This included all five bowl sizes, as well as some "combo" packs that included several bowls nested within one another.
Reflect
After the project, the team and I sat down to reflect on how we did. We found a few growth opportunities, including…
Establish a cross-functional packaging project flow including clear moments for approvals, definition on who drives each step, and when to bring in stakeholders for feedback.
Identified common pain points in communicating with our off-shore vendors
Created a common vocabulary for packaging projects and captured them in a glossary
Set up a weekly packaging huddle to keep cross-functional team members apprised of project statuses.
Establish a cross-functional packaging project flow including clear moments for approvals, definition on who drives each step, and when to bring in stakeholders for feedback.
Identified common pain points in communicating with our off-shore vendors
Created a common vocabulary for packaging projects and captured them in a glossary
Set up a weekly packaging huddle to keep cross-functional team members apprised of project statuses.
Woo! You made it the end!
Thanks for reading, want to chat about it?
Contact me
Woo! You made it the end!
Thanks for reading, want to chat about it?
Contact me
Sustainable Packaging for Stasher’s "Bowls on the Go"
Role: Lead Designer
Company: Stasher
Project Scope: L
The Stasher Bowls packaging was designed to stand out on retail shelves while conveying the brand’s commitment to sustainability. Through in-depth audience research and cross-functional collaboration, I lead a cross-disciplinary team to develop packaging that appealed to both consumers and retail buyers. The line successfully launched in over 120 brick-and-mortar stores nation-wide.
Background
Stasher creates high-quality, reusable silicone bags that are designed to replace disposable plastic options. With an emphasis on sustainability, their products offer an eco-friendly and practical way to store food, organize belongings, and reduce waste.
Objective
Stasher Bowls was a new silhouette from Stasher made from the same premium materials but meant to stand up and stay open for meals on the go. With no existing packaging, my job was to concept, design, and produce the line for our brick-and-mortar retailers
A look at my process
Though each project is unique, the following displays my typical approach to creative problem solving and project execution:
learn
Audit of Stasher's current branding, packaging, and their competition
Understanding our audience
With any creative project, understanding the relevant audiences is key. For this project, the audiences spanned beyond end consumers—but also covered folks interacting within the sales and merchandising capacities.
Methods for learning insights about these audiences include internal and external interviews, sales data, and marketing data including email surveys, social media statistics, and external market research.
TRADE AUDIENCE: INTERACT WITH THE PACKAGING BEFORE IT HITS SHELVES
Sarah the Saleswoman
Internal Stasher Sales team
Extremely familiar with product benefits
Looking to add bowls to their existing product offerings within their accounts
Will look to packaging as a selling tool to buyers
Belinda the Buyer
On the merchandising team at brick and mortar retail stores
Most likely already familiar with the Stasher brand and existing product offerings
Wants to keep their store selection relevant and sell through inventory
END CONSUMERS: BRICK AND MORTAR SHOPPERS
Sammy Stasher-Squad
Heads to the retailer to look for Stasher products
Values sustainability and prioritizes lifestyle brands that share this value
Aware of existing Stasher brand and offerings
Susan Storage-Seeker
Heads to the retailer to find storage solutions, but does not necessarily seek out Stashe
Finds Stasher while shopping in the storage aisle
Not necessarily familiar with Stasher brand or products
Stanley Stumble-Upon
Stumbles upon Stasher products while shopping at the retailer, not necessarily for storage solutions
Not generally familiar with Stasher brand or mission
Prioritizes functionality and practicality in order to justify price
Explore
Finding Inspiration
Early Sketches and prototypes
CONCEPT
Refined concepts
Illustration explorations
After several iterations and rounds of feedback from stakeholders, we narrowed the concept down to a final solution. In an effort to include illustrations without taking up too much valuable real estate, we opted for a rounded insert that could sit inside the bowl—giving us brand reinforcement and even some space to include care instructions.
Final concept
CONCEPT
Refined concepts
Illustration explorations
Final concept
After several iterations and rounds of feedback from stakeholders, we narrowed the concept down to a final solution. In an effort to include illustrations without taking up too much valuable real estate, we opted for a rounded insert that could sit inside the bowl—giving us brand reinforcement and even some space to include care instructions.
Build
Now that we had our final concept, it was time to implement it across the entire product line. This included all five bowl sizes, as well as some "combo" packs that included several bowls nested within one another.
Reflect
After the project, the team and I sat down to reflect on how we did. We found a few growth opportunities, including…
After the project, the team and I sat down to reflect on how we did. We found a few growth opportunities, including…
Establish a cross-functional packaging project flow including clear moments for approvals, definition on who drives each step, and when to bring in stakeholders for feedback.
Identified common pain points in communicating with our off-shore vendors
Created a common vocabulary for packaging projects and captured them in a glossary
Set up a weekly packaging huddle to keep cross-functional team members apprised of project statuses.
Woo! You made it the end!
Thanks for reading, want to chat about it?
Contact me