Trichets

Design: Rishikesh Hiremath
Location: India
Project Type: Student Project
School: MIT Institute of Design
Course: Product Design
Packaging Contents: Oral Re-hydration solution salts
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Vacuum sealed Paper pouch (Aluminium coating on the inside)

A lot of trekkers, cyclists and campers carry Oral Re-hydration Solution ( ORS ) salts to keep themselves hydrated during their adventure. These salts are primarily used by people suffering from diarrhea to maintain the necessary salts in the body. The ORS salts are sold in rectangular sachets in the Indian market. Electral and Cipla ORS are the most commonly sold ORS powders in India.

While on a trek/cycling expedition, the task of tearing the sachet and pouring the powder inside a water bottle is irritating and creates a mess ( Powder spills outside , hands get sticky , moist powder gets stuck in the threads of the bottle cap etc. ). One needs to carry a pair of scissors specifically for cutting Cipla ORS’s sachet every time. These problems arise because of the (1) Shape of the sachet and (2) lack of a tear mark. Why are these a problem?

• Shape of the sachet : The rectangular shape doesn’t provide proper guidance to the powder to fall inside small openings ( Bottle necks ) but works fine for a glass.
• Lack of tear mark : Because of the absence of a tear mark, the sachet gets teared in different ways causing the opening size to differ. If the tear hole is too small, the powder takes too long to dispense. If the tear hole is too big, the powder spills everywhere.

In this project, I have addressed the above problems by changing the shape of the sachet to an isosceles triangle and providing a tear mark . The isosceles shape naturally guides people to the tearing end. Also, since it’s a medical product ( used by diarrhea patients and people suffering from stomach ailments ) the triangular shape provides enough area to print all the necessary information regarding the composition of the powder, usage, dosage, precautions and the date of expiry without compromising on the legibility of the text.

Disclaimer – FDC or Cipla does not endorse this product. The brand name has only been used as an inspiration.

What’s Unique?
The shape of the sachet makes it unique because it helps in dispensing the powder right inside the bottle without any spillage.