Apple corrugated gable box packaging box, a product packaging with excellent user experience --- Part 1

    

1. The new corrugated gable box packaging designed by iMac has overshadowed the iMac:

       

Since the launch of the iMac 2021, YouTube has been flooded with unboxing review videos. But there is an unboxing video that is very different. It talks about "the product is not important", and the iMac was left to dry when it was recorded, but it was squeezed into the top 20 unboxing videos within a week of its launch, with more than 820,000 views. The protagonist of the video is not the latest iMac with the M1 chip upgrade, but the new corrugated gable box packaging designed for the iMac. The narrator of the video is also very simple. It is Ian Lee, who has been a packaging engineer at Apple for 5 years, and is also one of the managers of the YouTube video channel The DoDo Men-dudu people. The corrugated gable box packaging for the iMac 2021 happens to be Ian's last project before leaving Apple.

   

     

2. Apple's corrugated gable box packaging design is different:

     

Many people may think that corrugated gable box packaging is just the last part of product design. After the product comes out, we can find a packaging designer of corrugated gable box to put "clothes" on the product. And this layer of "clothing" is in the hands of consumers, and in most cases it will be thrown into the trash immediately. But Apple is definitely an exception.

    

 

     

▲ iMac corrugated gable box made into a scroll wheel

      

3. The low-cost corrugated gable box deserves as much attention as the high-margin electronics inside:

     

How a customer opens a corrugated gable box is often the last thing traditional product designers think about. But for Apple, the low-cost corrugated gable box deserves as much attention as the high-margin electronics inside. —Adam Rasinski, The Apple

   

    

4. Simple to extreme apple corrugated gable box packaging:

      

In the Apple team, the person responsible for the packaging design of the corrugated gable box is not called a packaging designer, but a packaging design engineer for the corrugated gable box. In the early stage of product development, the packaging team started the project and held frequent meetings and communication with the industrial design team. As the new product takes shape, the corrugated gable box packaging of the product will also be finalized. This eighth-generation iMac has undergone significant changes in appearance, with a total of 7 options in color. Significant changes in the appearance of the product mean that the packaging of the iMac corrugated gable box, which has not changed much, will also need to make a big change. But for such a big change, if the former Apple packaging engineer did not personally explain it, I am afraid that the public would not be able to see too many clues from the simple to the extreme Apple corrugated gable box packaging, and it is no wonder that netizens left a message below - "The first time Look carefully at Apple's corrugated gable box packaging, ashamed...".

   

 

▲The corrugated gable box of iMac 2021

    

Next, let's put the iMac aside and learn from Iran's words: "We put the unimportant things (iMac) aside, and the protagonist moves back." Take a look at the protagonist of this unboxing video - the corrugated gable box packaging. Layers of mystery.

   

    

5. The bigger and heavier the product, the harder it is to design the packaging

      

In the face of the new corrugated gable box packaging design for iMac this time, even Ian Lee, who graduated from UCLA mechanical engineering and has many years of engineer experience, also shouted that it was too difficult, saying it was the most challenging job in his 5 years at Apple. Why do I say this is the most challenging corrugated gable box I've had in my five years at Apple? It is because it is very large, and it is not allowed to use the packaging of the previous styrofoam, all of which are environmentally friendly materials. It's heavy again! From a corrugated gable box packaging engineering perspective, the heavier something is, the harder it is to design. - Ian Lee (former Apple packaging engineer)

   

    

5.1. Why is the packaging design of corrugated gable box very difficult for products with large size and high weight?

     

When the product becomes larger, there will be many places that can be damaged by bumps. For a mobile phone, the front, back and sides can be well protected, but when it comes to a product as large as an iMac, the packaging design of corrugated gable box needs to be considered in multiples. After the weight is increased, the degree of damage will increase linearly due to the force. Even the small accessories inside, if they are not arranged in a balanced weight and held firmly, will become the main culprit in damaging the product.

    

 

▲ iMac 2021 corrugated gable box packaging design The arrangement of accessories in the box

     

5.2. New requirements for packaging design of corrugated gable box----can not use styrofoam material

      

For the packaging design project of corrugated gable box, which was already difficult, the packaging team also received a new requirement: the packaging design of corrugated gable box cannot use styrofoam material, which is commonly known as "foam", which is anti-collision and anti-collision. excellent cushioning material. When dismantling large electrical appliances, the product will be tightly fixed in the corrugated gable box white foam block. This "foam" is Styrofoam. The iMac 2020 released last year also used styrofoam in the corrugated gable box packaging.

    

     

5.3. The packaging secret of corrugated gable box that only Apple engineers know:

     

In order to achieve environmental protection goals, packaging engineers of corrugated gable box can only use paper as an environmentally friendly material instead. When the Apple carton is opened, there is a raised rectangular block at the top of the lid that hides two folded corrugated boxes. It's no wonder that the cover of the unboxing video has a few large characters "The secret of corrugated gable box packaging that only Apple engineers know." The top block was pulled hard, and it was easy to open. However, this box is surrounded by such "hidden mysteries", and the white cardboard is filled with these brown corrugated gable boxes.

    

     

5.4. Very flexible iMac corrugated gable box.

    

Corrugated cardboard is different from ordinary cardboard. By making wavy "folds" in the middle, the impact resistance, tear resistance and compressive strength of corrugated gable box are greatly improved. The extra-thick cardboard boxes commonly used in express delivery are also made of corrugated cardboard. However, the cardboard used by Apple is different. Even the thickness of the cardboard and the height of the wave shape inside are the best values ​​obtained after many tests. These brown corrugated gable boxes can be easily spread out into a sheet of cardboard because no glue is used to put them together.

   

     

The iMac and its accessories lie inside the corrugated gable box so made, like a newborn wrapped in a quilt. Take the iMac and accessories out and press the corrugated gable box below, it feels like pressing on a pillow, and the cardboard is still resilient.