During the 2021-22 academic year, I was part of Cal Poly's Phoenix Challenge team. Our task was to pick a business and redesign their packaging, creating brand standards and solving a problem for that business. We chose a local cupcake bakery, Seabreeze Cupcakes & Sweet Treats, and created packaging and labels for them.
My role was production lead — I ensured that our designs would be able to be reproduced accurately on our flexography press, and on the day of the press run ensured that everything ran smoothly.
The team created multiple deliverables: packaging for homemade extracts, a two cupcake carrier, and three different types of labels.
The extracts's outer packaging consisted of an outer sleeve with a brief description of what was inside along with a logo and a fun design in varnish. Inside was a carrier for three extracts, and we also created labels for three different types: coffee, cinnamon, and vanilla.
For the carriers, we designed an interior two cupcake holder along with an exterior carrying case that would securely close. The three labels pictured above (for graduation, weddings, and Cal Poly students), can also be used on other packaging if more than two cupcakes are sold.
On the day of the press run, we did four different runs — one for the black and off white labels, one for the blue ones, a third for the blue wrapper on the extracts, and the last one to see if the black ink looked better for the wrapper. To prep for this, we had to order the correct inks and create multiple plates. Once the run was done, we used the Polar Cutter to cut down the wrappers since we did not have a cutting die for the thicker substrate. We also picked out the best samples to send off for judging and give to Seabreeze, keeping some of the rest for our own portfolios and recycling any others.
While the art for the labels and sleeves was being created, we also designed the packaging. After many iterations, we settled on a two piece cupcake carrier — the outer piece had handles and a locking mechanism while the interior piece fit snuggly and held two cupcakes. For the extracts, we created a box with three windows that still held the glass bottles without them falling out or into each other. These designs were rendered and cut out using the department's ESKO cutter. Only the extract box used a small strip of glue; the rest of the packaging used folding methods to stay together and not collapse.
The team presented our final packages to the team at Seabreeze, and needless to say, they were thrilled. We also gave them the CAD files for the boxes and print ready files for the labels so they can continue to order more. The 2021-22 Phoenix Challenge team also earned first place in that year's competition with our design, with each of us learning how to apply the packaging skills we learned throughout our time at Cal Poly to real world projects.
