The assignment was to pick a less than 5 dollar item and repackage the item in a way that was either reusable, a reduction of overall packaging materials, or recyclable. The repackaged item must add value, without increasing the price of goods.

I had found travel tissues for less than $2 and decided that this would be an interesting problem to repackage as the original packaging was covered in 2 layers of plastic film that could not be recycled.

My first challenge was developing a packaging die line that when fully assembled appeared as one object, but as the consumers used the product would break off into multiple smaller components. The reason for this multi-component packaging was to provide the customer with the ability to obtain multiple travel tissue packs without having to purchase them individually. Once I had settled on a shape that could provide that modularity, I them focused on how to brand these tissues.

In my brainstorming and research, I found that the first recorded instance of people using paper to blow their nose or touch up their face stems from Edo period Japan. Taking that into consideration, I then translated the word tissue into Japanese to form the name Hanagami.

The Hanagami branding system takes elements of traditional patterns and colors from Japanese textiles and combines them with the modern day Japanese aesthetic. The colors stem from popular kimono colors as Geisha were the ones to commonly use tissues to enhance their makeup.

Taking into consideration that traditional Japanese Washi paper is made from the inner bark of the gampi tree, I decided that the packaging material would be seed paper. Once the customer is out of tissues, the packaging will be able to continue serving a purpose in a new form instead of being discarded. On the packaging itself there are multiple reminders and cues for the customer to plant the packaging instead of throwing it away. This also allows for the individual to interact with the packaging and become mindful of their own impact on the Earth.