FinalWriteUp
- 2. Introduction
A group member was preparing to wrap her roommate’s birthday present, but could only find a
pair of small, blunt tipped scissors. The combination of her frustration in finding sharp scissors
around the house, as well as finding gift wrap often stuffed and bent in the back of a closet, gave
us the idea of the “Gift Wrap 2in1”. The “Gift Wrap 2in1” is created for efficient gift wrap
storing and cutting which can often be a tedious process. Likewise, 66.56% and 20.20% of our
97 survey respondents stated “No” and “Not Sure” respectively when asked “Are you satisfied
with the design of gift wrap rolls?”. Therefore, by adding an efficient way to cut the wrapping
paper there on the box, it can make the process of wrapping more enjoyable for consumers.
Figure 1: The entire length of our package. It can hold the three standard sizes of gift wrap (24", 30" and 36") . 1
Innovation
Dr. Stephanie Brown, author of “Speed: Facing Our Addiction to Fast and Faster — and
Overcoming Our Fear of Slowing Down”, believes that “fast at any cost” is the mantra of the
American society that is addicted to this faster pace of living. With that being said, we have 2
created the perfect product for gift givers that are looking for speed and efficiency, while
improving the look of the wrapped product. With “Gift Wrap 2in1”, you are able to pull out the
desired amount of gift wrap and slice it in one clean cut. Most commonly, consumers try to cut
gift wrap with scissors; however, there are many problems with that method. First, there is the
safety concern of cutting yourself with the scissors while slicing the gift wrap. Secondly, when
you cut gift wrap on your own, it can often rip or slide when cutting, resulting in a jagged,
crooked cut. Then when you go to wrap the item, there is a diagonal line of missing gift wrap,
making it difficult for you to neatly use that sheet to wrap your gift. Also, gift wrap can unroll in
storage. However, “Gift Wrap 2in1” will alleviate these problems when you are able to pull out
the gift wrap from a box, and slice a beautifully cut piece in a timely manner. When timing the
process of cutting gift wrap with scissors versus using the “Gift Wrap 2in1”, we achieved
average times (n=10) of sixteen seconds and four seconds respectively, saving an average of
twelve seconds per sheet of gift wrap that we sliced.
1
http://www.superiorgiftwrap.com/sizes.html
2
http://nypost.com/2014/01/04/societysaddictiontofasterlivingisdestroyingusdoctor/
- 3. Economics
Our rationale for designing an entirely new package is to facilitate the process of gift wrapping
that will give result to a neatly wrapped present. In our group’s survey, 85.57% of respondents
said they would purchase the packaged gift wrap with an easy cut blade (“Gift Wrap 2in1”). In
order to have a gift that is presentable, the blade on the package helps with the smooth cutting
and alignment of the gift wrap. This shows that consumers are willing to purchase the “Gift
Wrap 2in1” for its convenience. Also, according to a survey by Credit Donkey, almost half of
Americans admit they will rewrap a gift if it does not look good the first time. This shows a 3
demand for a neater and straighter alternative to cutting gift wrap.
Figure 2: We asked respondents
(n=97) , “Would you buy gift wrap
that is packaged in a box with a blade
attached for an easy cut?,” and
attached a photo of our package. Our
results are as shown.
Marketing
The market segment for our product will be women in the age range of 2565, and more
specifically, those married with children in the middle socioeconomic level. These consumers are
more likely to spend time wrapping gifts for occasions like Christmas, birthdays, baby showers
etc. In fact, 74 percent of adults said that the female head of the household is most likely to wrap
holiday gifts, and 95 percent of adults feel that women are better at wrapping gifts than men. 4
The product cuts down on time spent cutting paper, improves the look of the cut (keeping it from
getting jagged), and also conveniently holds the gift wrap and keeps it from unraveling in
storage. The “Gift Wrap 2in1” will be sold with the gift wrap inside for a discounted price
during the product launch period. During certain times of the year when gift wrap is in high
demand, like the holiday season, the “Gift Wrap 2in1” will come with an extra roll of gift wrap
to promote and incentivize the consumer to purchase the product. Furthermore, the “Gift Wrap
2in1” will always have the outer design match the gift wrap paper that it contains as a way to
promote the product.
Protection and Package Performance
Product protection is a primary function of packaging and is very important when designing a
package. During the designing process, our group was cautious about how we were going to
protect the gift wrap from damage. As a result, the package is constructed out of corrugated
3
http://www.creditdonkey.com/giftwrap.html
4
http://www.prnewswire.com/newsreleases/holidaygiftwrappingsurveystatistics79837697.html
- 4. fiberboard with “C” fluting instead of paperboard to add extra strength to the package. The
package itself has a snug fit with the original roll to ensure that the product has extra stacking
strength. Currently, gift wrap does not have any extra protection from damage besides the shrink
wrap to protect the paper from the elements such as humidity, sun, or friction. Another problem
that consumers may face when storing gift wrap is that rolls can be scuffled or bent while in
storage, but by having a designated box to protect the gift wrap, this damage can be avoided.
Manufacturing Processes
After sketching out possible shapes for our “Gift Wrap 2in1”, we decided on a long corrugated
fiberboard container that takes on the general shape of a saran wrap container and made
numerous adjustments throughout the manufacturing process to account for structural issues.
First, we constructed the basic structure of our “Gift Wrap 2in1” on ArtiosCAD to ensure that
our prototype would have the necessary straight edged cuts and creases for where the corrugated
fiberboard would be folded. The package was cut from C flute corrugated fiberboard by the
Kongsberg Cutting Machine to ensure good stacking strength as well as puncture resistance. The
package was glued together using the hot glue gun, and then two square inserts and twelve
skinny tabs were drawn and cut, which would hold the roll of gift wrap in various places
depending on the length of the roll. These pieces, however, were cut from a double wall
corrugated board to provide extra strength. Likewise, these twelve tabs were all glued into the
package using the hot glue gun at various positions in relation to the standard sizes of gift wrap
(Figure 3), and then we cut two small pieces of PVC pipe to glue to the two (re)movable square
inserts to hold the gift wrap up in the package (Figure 4). Finally, we slotted, stacked, and glued
a cable carliketrack on ArtiosCAD using C flute corrugated fiberboard which would hold the
small blade straight in place when used to cut the gift wrap. We reinforced the blade with
corrugated fiberboard and electric tape to ensure the safety of the consumer (Figure 5). Lastly,
we wrapped the entire package with gift wrap using rubber cement, and hot glued velcro to the
inner left and right side to hold the attached, lidlikeflap down to enclose the gift wrap for the
most part (Figure 6).
Figure 3: Tabs glued on the inside of the package at
various standard gift wrap lengths to hold the square
inserts (pictured in Figure 4).
Figure 4: PCV pipe glued to the two (re)movable
square inserts which hold the gift wrap up in the
package.
