Blog Task Questions

Q Materials lightness, suitability for purpose, minimalising of materials use and 'clever or smart' usages of materials were all considerations discussed at CAT with Jo. With your present designs for the WVB package mixed with the research that you've done to date and some of Jo's discussions suggest 3 ways in which you might minimise your materials use with your package.

• My current package design does use a bit much cardboard, even though I have given most of it a purpose. Firstly to minimise it I will go back to my design, look at how the package holds itself together and the products in place and remove/simplify sections that don't have as much purpose, such as the sides to the box, if the package can hold the bottles firmly in place then they would not be needed.
• Secondly I may alter/add more second uses for the package that uses less space but still keeps the package being used after it has transported the products. If I alter the design of the package this may force me to change my second use, designing shall continue.
• Finally with my current design I had planned to use some colour on it, but I am now considering leaving it the colour of the cardboard, this reduces the amount of ink to just logo's and small sections of text making it a lot more green.

Q CAT is in part about educating people about how to live more sustainably. After seeing a wide range of displays on practical methods to lower dependence on a high carbon lifestyle [and bearing in mind where you chose to stand in the 'line' between tech solutions and/or a simpler life] - what two things might you yourself do to lessen your own carbon footprint in the future?

• Replacing some windows that are not keeping in any heat and are letting the warmth of the whole house go down, which then requires more power to be wasted by keeping it heated.
• Having the heating on less, it currently gets used a bit much and as the insulation is quite good it doesn't need to be left on too long.

Q Describe 1 example of information display that you saw while at CAT: What it was, how it was presented graphically and in what context [i.e. covered area, out in the open, specialist display etc]. Could the display you saw be improved and how do you think this could be  achieved?

• One information display that I saw was the board outside the solar dome that discussed the Zero Carbon Britain 2030 target. It is presented on a long board that follows a linear step by step guide of how you can help towards their goal for zero carbon britain.
  I think this could be improved by if possible reducing the amount of text that is on the board, the large arrows split it up well but seeing that amount of writing in small text really puts me off reading it.