The issue of ‘plastic carrier bags' has caused some controversy within the retail market and with environmentally concerned consumers. There have been mixed views on the responsibility of the supermarkets to limit their use, and by introducing a minimum charge for their purchase. A DEFRA study revealed that 90% of UK households re-use their supermarket bags at least once.

Your challenge with this brief is to look at ‘carrier devices in general' and look at providing a new and innovative solution that will be appropriate and effective for both retailers and consumers.

You may consider a range of sizes and uses, reflecting using the carrier for premium products. These could be fashion, gift, toiletries or premium food items.

The material to be used/specified is Polythene but you may consider flexible or rigid plastic as well as using polythene in conjunction with another material like card/corrugated/textiles or paper. A maximum of 75% of your pack/carrier/holder must be polythene with the other material taking up the remaining 25%. Ideally your solution will have strength and flexibility as well as holding products securely and incorporate some form of handling device to make it easy for shoppers to use. Consider the visibility and versatility that polythene provides to give creativity to your design.

Your solution needs to have sufficient durability and usefulness that it will have long term storage or other uses potentially. You may look at possibilities for the bag to be folded or stored at both the retail end or within the home, as well as secondary uses.

At the end of the ‘carrier/bag's useful life it should be capable of being recycled, remember the more non-polythene material incorporated into your design, the more difficult it will be to recycle your pack.

You may use a particular trend, theme or area of the retail market for your premium carrier device solution and use appropriate graphics and styling to make your design appealing as well as functional.

1. Creativity - Inspirational design.
2. Innovation - Creative use of design for structure and form.
3. Effective and appropriate use of Materials.
4. Consumer Convenience (easy carry).
5. Feasibility and Functionality -  the carrier bag has to work by opening wide enough, containing the product with handles that stay fixed.
6. Secondary use - can the pack be used for other uses.
7. Environmental - can it be recycled and meet the needs of consideration to environmental issues.
8. Model - a 3D model must be well made, using the correct material and fully functioning.
9. 3 x A3 Development boards - Concise and clear presentation of idea progression and justification of design direction. The first board should demonstrate the start point of   the idea (research and what the problem is that needs to be resolved), the  progression of thought (how the possible solutions may resolve the problem), and the final board should show how the problem is managed.
10. Consumer and retail appeal - relevance to target markets.