PROGRAMMABLE PACKAGING TAPE

ENCODED GRAPHICS APPLIED TO SHIPPING MATERIALS

PROJECT OVERVIEW

THIS EXPERIMENT TESTED HOW ENCODED GRAPHICS COULD BE PRINTED ONTO PACKAGING TAPE AND REMAIN FUNCTIONAL WHEN WRAPPED AROUND SHIPPING BOXES. THE GOAL WAS TO CREATE A BRANDABLE, SCANNABLE SURFACE THAT COULD BE USED IN LOGISTICS OR RETAIL ENVIRONMENTS.

DESIGN STRATEGY

FORMAT & REPETITION

THE ENCODED DESIGN WAS CONVERTED INTO A SEAMLESS REPEATING STRIP THAT COULD PRINT CONTINUOUSLY ONTO PACKING TAPE. THE PATTERN WAS CREATED TO ALIGN EVEN WHEN FOLDED OR STRETCHED SLIGHTLY.

PROTOTYPING METHOD

THE PATTERN WAS PRINTED ONTO STICKER PAPER, THEN APPLIED TO A STANDARD SHIPPING BOX TO MIMIC COMMERCIAL PACKAGING TAPE. THIS ALLOWED FOR FAST ITERATION AND SCAN TESTING.

OBJECTIVES

CREATE A FUNCTIONAL, SCANNABLE TAPE PATTERN
ENSURE VISUAL ALIGNMENT EVEN WHEN WRAPPED
REINFORCE BRANDING THROUGH UTILITARIAN MATERIALS
EXPLORE SCAN ABILITY ON CURVED / TEXTURED SURFACES

GALLERY

Tape Box Mockup

CONCLUSION

THIS MINI EXPERIMENT DEMONSTRATED THAT ENCODED GRAPHICS CAN BE ADAPTED FOR UTILITARIAN SURFACES LIKE PACKAGING TAPE. WHILE FURTHER MATERIAL TESTING IS NEEDED FOR PRODUCTION-LEVEL INTEGRATION, THIS PROTOTYPE PROVIDES A FOUNDATION FOR SMART LABELS AND INTERACTIVE SHIPPING DESIGN.

  • SHOWED ENCODED PATTERN CAN RETAIN FUNCTION ON FLEXIBLE MATERIALS
  • VALIDATED SEAMLESS DESIGN APPROACH FOR ROLLED APPLICATION
  • ENABLED DISCUSSION ON LOW-COST SMART PACKAGING IN RETAIL