Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Finlay.

And in today's lesson, we are going to be looking at some different types of boards.

You are going to be looking at packaging.

And how could you use that packaging to mass-produce your own products.

But as always, before we start the lesson make sure you're somewhere quiet, where you can hear my voice and you can concentrate.

Okay, let's see what equipment you are going to need for today's lesson.

Okay, so for today, you are going to need some cardboard, a pen, scissors, tape and a ruler.

And in today's lesson, we are going to, well you've already done your intro quiz.

So we're going to look at cardboard and board.

We are going to think about waste and packaging, that's around us.

You're going to have a design and model challenge.

And then finally, as always, there is an exit quiz.

Keywords.

So our first keyword is corrugated cardboard and I suspect you've seen this before.

Most of our packaging comes in corrugate cardboard, it's layered and it has a lovely wiggly flute all the way through the middle.

Our second word is duplex board.

And this allows for printing on one side only.

Often it can be grey or brown on the other side.

And our last word is solid white board.

And this is used for high-quality and can be used in things like greeting cards, for example.

Okay, so we're going to have a little look at those boards now.

We're going to start off with our keywords.

So we have in our materials identification, corrugated cardboard and this has those layers together.

So you can see the top of those flutes.

You might think buying things like pizza boxes are made from corrugated cardboard, because they insulate heat and they soak up any of the grease and things that you might have as well.

Let's look at our next board.

Okay, so duplex board, really great example here of a cereal packet.

So you have one side that's really high-quality, but the inside hasn't been printed on at all.

Okay, and it might be a light grey or a slight brown, or maybe white sometimes.

And our last board from the keywords, can you remember which one it was? That's right, it's solid white board.

So these are used for high-quality products, things like greetings cards.

Right let's have a little look together, see if you can identify some boards.

What about this one? What do you think it is? Which board is it? Have a little look.

Have you made a decision? I'm just going to give you a little hand.

Is it corrugated cardboard used for heavy duty boxes? Is it duplex board where one side is printed on? Is it solid white board which is used in greetings greetings cards, it's high-quality? I think you know which one it is.

Yeah, that's right.

It's corrugated cardboard.

Let's look at the next one.

Ooh, okay.

So which one do you think this is? Corrugated cardboard, duplex board or solid white board? I'm going to give you those hints again.

Okay, have a little think.

What do you think it is? I'm going to give you those hints again.

So corrugated cardboard is used for heavy duty boxes, it's really strong.

You've got duplex board, which can be printed on one side and the other side's plain card.

And you've got solid white board, which is high-quality.

Which one do you think it is? Make your decision.

Yeah, it's solid white board.

Okay, so last one.

Is it corrugated cardboard, duplex board or solid white board? What do you think? Make a decision.

Corrugated cardboard has got fluted layers and it's really strong.

Duplex board can only be printed on one side and solid white board is used in high-quality greetings cards.

You should know that off by heart now.

What do you think the answer is for this? Yeah, well done.

It's duplex board.

Let's look what we're going to do next.

Here's today's design task.

Corrugated cardboard boxes are used a lot in general packaging and they've been thrown away.

Just think about all those parcels that come through the door or delivered to school.

What do we do with the packaging? We just throw it away.

And saying that, "Oh paper and board can be recycled," isn't enough.

You know, a lot of boards can't be recycled because of the inks that are used in them, or at least it's not easy to do that.

So your challenge today is to repurpose packaging specifically a box, into something that could be usable in your home.

So not only are you not buying that extra product for your home, but you're also finding a way in which you could reuse that packaging in a positive way.

And this is also something that companies could use as a secondary thing on their product and making their product more environmentally aware.

So let's think about what sort of new product could you design.

Okay, so we're going to think about the home, 'cause that's where we are.

So maybe something that's beautiful, something that's really aesthetic and really creative.

It might be something that can be interacted with and it might even be something that is disposable and is used temporarily, but something that people can use.

It might be something that stores, it could be something that might be worn, that's really interesting one, or maybe something that has a really super clear function.

So these are just giving you some ideas.

So while you sat there listening, have a look around, think about what do you use in your life at the moment and how could we use a corrugated cardboard box or packaging to help make your life easier.

Usually, I get you to do lots of designing, lots of little 2D models, lots of 3D models, but today is all about problem solving and using what you have around you.

Now, for some of you, you might want to stop before you start making and have a look at the internet, look at some research of products that have been made from cardboard boxes or packaging.

There's some really fantastic things out there, like clothes hangers and coat hangers, that hang up in people's wardrobes that they've made from boxes.

There are hobby horses, there are lovely files storage units that you can use for packing things.

But I was really interested when I was thinking, "Oh I've got to video this lesson," if we ever order books and things like that at home, they come and they're really cool little fold-out, nice and quick fold-out corrugated cardboard envelopes.

So I thought this would be a really nice little start, really for what I want to do.

So I was also thinking that at school, I find it very difficult if I'm teaching remotely to just be on one screen, it's nice to have two screens but my tablet that I have, isn't very good at standing up and I don't want to buy one of those pop things.

Or if I had to stand on my desk I don't think it would work very well, they don't seem to be very substantial.

So I started looking at this little envelope, thinking actually it folds really nicely.

So what I did was, on the inside, just where the folds are, I cut a really big slot out there, sort of almost the width and a half that my tablet is.

And then what I'm thinking now is, if I fold these bits up, to make little feet, like this, I can make a ledge there and then I can make a ledge at the back, like that.

And so I can wedge my tablet in the middle and that's what I'm going to do.

So when you're doing this, it might be that you think, "I know exactly what I want to do, "I'm not going to do any research, "I know what I need to do." And that's fine.

You can go ahead, get modelling, think about, is it something beautiful that you're making? Is it something that is going to really help? Is it something that might be disposable? So think about how your product's going to be used.

We don't just want to make more products to go into a recycling bin.

And what I'd really like to see is companies thinking about their packaging and having maybe things printed on the inside of the packaging, so that when you finished using the product, you can then make your own secondary product.

And I think things like fast food as well.

If we think about children's packaging for fast food in those boxes, I know some of them you can rip them off and make a little tray from them, but you know, my children always want to put their children's meals when they've done that, the other bit on their head.

And it seems to be crying out for that to be redesigned.

Okay so, while I've been talking, I've been sticking sellotape on.

So here we go.

Again, we're not trying to do things that are like totally amazing.

We're trying to use everyday packaging in a really useful way.

So here's my tablet, let's just see if that stands.

Ooh, actually that stands really well.

So that's going to stand like that, okay, bit of a reflection going on there.

Now the bottom bit can go in, now I could potentially, oh yeah, tuck that in, if I tuck that in there, that's going to give me a little bit of a wedge at the front, okay.

And it might be that I want to tuck it around the outside and have it wedged on the other way, but this is my little solution.

Now I would probably like to see a little bit of graphic along there, a little bit of decoration.

If I've got pieces under here, what could I use them for? Maybe I could make something where maybe my headphones would slot in and out, 'cause that's quite a useful thing to have.

Or I might have maybe somewhere for pens or post-it notes, if I really quickly need to jot down some notes or something like that.

So think about the secondary function of your products too.

So essentially that is your challenge for today.

You need to have a look around for some packaging that you've got in the home that you can use.

Use your scissors carefully, use sellotape, put it together, make a product.

And I know your teachers would love to see what you are creating.

Well done.