Brief E: Packaging Beyond Earth: Designers from Earth. Packs for Mars.

The Mars Rules - Mars presents some very different challenges. Use these as inspiration for your concept.

There is no shelf

• If there is no conventional supermarket shelf, how does your packaging display, store, stack, hang, attach, travel?
• Could the packaging itself become part of the storage system?

 Every gram matters

• Transporting materials to Mars is expensive and resource-intensive. Could your packaging use less material, be ultra-lightweight, arrive flat and transform when needed, contain a concentrated product, be refillable, eliminate unnecessary components?
• Think beyond simply making today's packaging lighter.

There is no conventional bin

• What happens when your product has been used? There may be limited infrastructure for waste collection and recycling.
• Could your packaging have another purpose, be reused, be refilled, be dismantled, be recycled locally, biodegrade or compost, become part of another product or system?
• If nothing can be thrown away, what does “packaging waste” look like?

Gravity changes everything

• How does packaging work when gravity is no longer something you can take for granted? Think about dispensing, opening, pouring, storing, preventing spills, keeping products secure, attaching or anchoring packs.
• Could the packaging itself help the user interact with products in a low- or microgravity environment?

Technology can be part of the experience

• Smart packaging could have a completely different role in an extreme environment. Could your concept use technology to communicate product information, monitor freshness or condition, authenticate a product, guide the user, measure dosage, connect the physical and digital experience, adapt to the environment?
• Technology should have a purpose — don't add it simply because you can.

But Mars isn't just about survival...

People won't stop wanting luxury, beauty, indulgence and experiences just because they live on another planet. Imagine:
The first luxury fragrance on Mars.
The first cocktail bar on Mars.
The first beauty brand on Mars.
The first chocolate gift from Earth.

What would luxury mean when materials are scarce?

Would luxury still be about layers of packaging, heavy glass, elaborate decoration, oversized boxes? Or could luxury become about ingenuity, personalisation, technology, material innovation, craft and experience?

You don't have to design a luxury product but we encourage you to think about how your packaging creates desire and emotion as well as function

Entries must include uploads of the developments boards

The 4 A3 development boards uploaded as a single PDF document should include the following:

• Research board
• Design exploration board
• Final design solution.

Development boards must not show the entrant’s name or university/college. 

• Research into the current hanging problem and the chosen application. 
• Concept sketches showing the development of the idea.
• Material selection with a clear technical and environmental rationale.
• Images showing the concept attached to the selected product or garment.
• Images showing the concept on the appropriate retail hook or rail.
• An explanation of manufacture, packing or application.
• An explanation of customer interaction, product protection and store usability.
• An end-of-life plan and a comparison with the current hanging solution.

Do not simply exchange one material for another. Use this challenge to rethink how DIY and workwear products are transported protected, presented, selected and returned to display. The strongest concepts will combine credible sustainability improvements with robust real-world performance and a better experience for customers, store colleagues and suppliers.

A physical prototype is encouraged but not essential. If you create a prototype, show how it works and how the consumer interacts with it.

• Judges will be looking for concepts that challenge conventional packaging thinking, rather than simply reproducing existing formats with futuristic graphics.
• Your concept should demonstrate how you have challenged conventional packaging thinking. Consider:
  • Materials- What is your packaging made from and why?
  • Format - Why does it have this shape and structure?
  • Function - What does the packaging need to do differently on Mars?
  • User experience - How does someone interact with it?
  • Sustainability - How have you reduced the resources required and considered what happens to the packaging afterwards?
  • Technology - Could smart or digital elements make the experience better?
  • Emotion - Would people actually want to use, own or receive your packaging?
• Don't over-engineer it. You are not expected to design a package that could literally be manufactured on Mars tomorrow. This is a thought experiment. We want you to explore possibilities, challenge assumptions and demonstrate how packaging could evolve in a radically different environment. Your concept should have a clear rationale, but ambitious thinking is encouraged. Think like a packaging designer, materials scientist, engineer, brand designer. And then forget what packaging looks like today.