Tearable Ice Cream Box

Design: Akshat Jain
Location: India
Project Type: Student Project
School: MIT Institute of Design
Tutor: Vikram Kaushik
Packaging Contents: Ice cream
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Poly coated paper
Printing Process: Digital Printing

In this plastic dominated world, reducing its consumption is a need of the hour. If we look at the industry of ice creams, this relatively sustainable packaging holds a fair share in the market. With hundred percent of its volume being occupied by its contents, and its paper construction, an ice cream brick/box is a great example of ‘optimum use of resources.’ This packaging provides only the bare minimum, yet it lives to be a common alternative for ice cream packaging. However, its shortcomings cannot be ignored. This project is an attempt at enhancing the experience around the use of an ice cream brick/box, by bringing improvements to factors like storage and consumption.

Keeping the cost structure and the manufacturing process in mind, the approach here subtracts to add value. Using perforations is a common method, that enables tool-less cutting and tearing. These small holes weaken the structural strength of the paper, and helps the user tear apart a piece of paper in a neat manner. Here, the method is applied to a paper ice cream box, that allows the user to gradually tear away the packaging as they progress. I noticed how scooping ice cream from a typical 700ml packaging becomes cumbersome as you progress through the box. This makes the user resort to tearing up the box, which leaves it in a messy state. By simply adding perforations, the packaging becomes easier to handle, resulting to neater consumption and storage.

What’s Unique?
By adding perforations to the same paper based packaging, the product can be consumed in a much neater fashion.