Uncluttered packaging
A graphic design student at the School of Visual Arts in New York, Steve Haslip, designed a prototype for a mailing envelope that transforms into a clothes hanger. As far as we know, the design isn’t yet manufactured. But, we absolutely love it and hope that someone starts using it.
From the product description:
The concept was fairly simple: I buy t-shirts online and they always come wrinkled and I always run out of coat-hangers. So I designed a sustainable, reusable way to send and keep your t-shirts. As you open the package you create a coat hanger. The packaging could be made from recycled material whether it is card or plastic and the only waste is the green tear-away tab.
Do you know of additional product packaging that keeps clutter and waste away? We’re always on the lookout for great, uncluttered design.
(via Packagings of the World)
30 comments posted
Posted by Tim - 05/11/2009
That is a fantastic concept! I really hope the student is able to find someone who wants to manufacture the product, because I think it would be a hit.
I would imagine Amazon would love to sell clothing in this type of packaging, as they’re already moving toward shipping products with as little waste as possible.
Posted by Another Deb - 05/11/2009
What? A package that does not need an Exacto-knife, followed by a first-aid kit to open? I wish more things could be packaged like this. My new wireless mouse, for instance….ow, slice and dice!
I think shoe boxes are the closest thing I can think of that convert to their own storage structure. Woldn’t it be great if they were a little more updated? See through end panels would be helpful.
Posted by Kristen @TheFrugalGirl - 05/11/2009
Am I the only one who is uninterested in having a cardboard hanger? I mean, I think the idea is really cool, but I like my neat wooden hangers, and a cardboard hanger would just get recycled here.
Posted by timgray - 05/11/2009
Hangars for t-shirts? really?
Some people must have massive amounts of closet space, I fold my T-shirts and put them in a drawer.
Posted by becoming minimalist - 05/11/2009
how ’bout packaging that pays my bills for me? now that would be a great invention!
Posted by tempra23 - 05/11/2009
This is an interesting idea but I wouldn’t use it. The package is likely to be dirty after coming through the mail handeling system. I would not want to use a dirty hanger for a shirt,
also it looks very wide. I’d just recycle it
Posted by Greg - 05/11/2009
Clever idea, but I would not use them. I would recycle them
I would not let this discourage the designer, I imagine he could design other useful things.
Posted by Steph - 05/11/2009
LAst week I bought an “eco-friendly” hair straightener (supposedly it uses less energy or something) that came in all-cardboard packaging. It wasn’t really reusable, but at least it was easy to open and completely recyclable – a welcome change from every other hair tool I’ve ever purchased. I’m hoping other companies follow suit, and not just with their “green” products.
Posted by Sheryl - 05/11/2009
I wouldn’t use this either, as I like all of my hangers to be uniform (white plastic.) I would shred it and put it in the compost bin, though.
Posted by Heather - 05/11/2009
Very clever!
@Another Deb — I’m right with you — I hate packages thate require medical attention after trying to open them!
Posted by Tabitha (From Single to Married) - 05/11/2009
I’m not sure how I feel about the hangers, I think they’re probably a great idea but I’m not sure if I would use them.
I did want to mention the boxes that Pangea organic products come in. You can wet the boxes and plant them and they grow things as they contain seeds or something in the box itself. While I haven’t tried it yet, I’ve hung on to the boxes for the time when I feel adventurous enough to start a garden.
Posted by Anita - 05/11/2009
I think this would fit more under “sketchy multitaskers” than “useful innovation” in my book. First, given the way mail gets handled in many cases, I doubt the package would look like anything you’d want your clean clothes to hang on by the time you get it. Second, I’m with timgray, don’t have the closet space to have t-shirts on hangers, and I doubt that cardboard would be able to hold anything heavier, like a suit or coat. Third, I don’t want a hanger that could give me paper cuts — I get enough of those at work as it is.
As a novelty item for mail-order t-shirt sellers, I can see it work (i.e. enough people would think it was a neat idea to get a hanger with their t-shirt), but not in a broader context.
As an aside, isn’t “always running out of hangers” contrary to the “one in-one out” philosophy this site advertises?
Posted by Egirl - 05/11/2009
Clever idea! While I use wooden hangers in my closet, I’d definitely use the cardboard ones for garage sales or donate them along with clothing I give to charity. Bravo!
Posted by Jon - 05/11/2009
I like the idea. I’ve never got enough hangers at home. If I ordered a t-shirt and could use the packaging as even a short term hanger, it’d be useful.
As for the condition it arrives it, maybe I’ve been fortunate, but my mail is almost always in clean enough condition that I throw it on my kitchen counter without a thought to cleaning before prepping food.
As for other packaging that gets re-used, it’s minor, but I tend to buy soda in the big 12 or 24 pack sizes. I use every single one of those boxes for trash, usually just organic based stuff that I don’t want to sit overnight in my trash can. While making dinner, any bones or fat cut from the meat along with any peelings from vegetables goes in here, after dinner, plates are scraped into it and one quick trip is taken outside. this may change though, the house I’m looking to move to is in a single stream recycle neighborhood, so I think I’ll be recycling the cardboard and making a compost pile for the waste.
Posted by me - 05/11/2009
would be great as long as you don’t care about matching hangers. might be perfect for college dorms…
Posted by Amy - 05/11/2009
I think this is a really innovative idea and shows a lot of creativity.
While I agree that it is not universally useful (I mean one would have to order a lot of t-shirts to get a set!), I like the way this designer is thinking.
Posted by Kris - 05/11/2009
I think this is one of those concepts that looks great in the classroom, but would be crap in the real world. I just think of the packages I get with holes and tears throughout, then I am supposed to get my pre-wrinkled shirt out of the box ( again, shipping isn’t the best around here ) and fold along the dotted lines to create a crappy cardboard hanger out of a probably wet box with holes and tears everywhere. Too much effort to get a crappy cardboard hanger that probably won’t last very long anyhow.
Posted by Peter (a different one) - 05/11/2009
Kudos to the designer. I don’t think I would use the hangers, but I applaud the creativeness and maybe it will spark an even better idea.
@Another Deb – great idea about the see-through sides for shoe boxes- Love it!
Posted by Sara - 05/11/2009
This is silly. Unless you’ll actually use the hanger, what’s the point? It’s better to just recycle the box. I would rather see someone make use of UN-recyclable packaging, like those peanuts.
Posted by Shana - 05/11/2009
Pass. Cardboard = not sturdy. Hanger’s ends = pointy = shoulder nipples. Package = dirty from the mail. Cardboard = useless for hanging wet laundry, so now I have two different types of hangers to mess around with. I file this one under “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” I can’t help but think that many people fail to take green inventions seriously because there’s a lot of crap like this surrounding the few really good, marketable things.
Posted by Mel - 05/11/2009
I know some people don’t like the idea, but I don’t understand why so many people are rubbishing it?!
OK so it might not be something you would use regularly but it could be one of those handy things for occasional use … I am at Uni atm and have brought most of my hangers with me from home, but that means when I go home for the holidays I have to scramble round trying to find hangers to hang stuff in my wardrobe so I am not living out of a suitcase … so if I could store a few of those hanger boxes from when I buy clothes online (that I would buy anyway) it would be a great short term solution.
Also when I buy stuff now, any packaging gets recycled anyway so the worst thing that would happen if I got this new packaging is that instead of using the hanger, it would get recycled as usual … and if I do use if for a short term then I can still recycle it, so either way – whether I use it or not it isn’t changing how I handle the packaging, the only difference is that if I use it, the packaging goes through one more use between reciept and recycling
Posted by Kris - 05/13/2009
@ Mel,
Actually, the worst thing that would happen is that they would charge us more in shipping and handling for this hangerpak that is not going to get used as a hanger when they could have kept costs down by using normal packaging.
Posted by Ismael - 05/13/2009
This is a really creative idea. Even if *you* don’t end up using it, someone else will. Besides, who loses? Those who don’t use it can just recycle it like any other piece of cardboard, and those who do get a free hanger. Don’t trash on it.
I hope a retailer like Amazon or Threadless will pick up on this. I’d love for this to go into production.
Posted by FLINC Shop - 05/14/2009
[...] Unclutter var addthis_pub = ‘flinc’; var addthis_brand = ‘FLINC Shop’;var addthis_language = ‘en’;var [...]
Posted by Cara - 05/14/2009
It would be more practical if it started out as a hanger (in the store) and then turned into packaging for the item (ie: gift box). Cardboard hangers sound temporary to me, though obviously practical for some applications. Hanger to packaging would be good for shows where people are set up outside and hang items for display, but then need to bag or wrap the product after the sale is made. It would have to look nice, though, when reformed into a package…
Posted by Natalie - 05/15/2009
re Sara and the foam peanuts, some people put them in the bottom of pots (instead of gravel)when planting new plants. I think its to help drainage and stop the soil from clogging the holes in the bottom. I only know this because someone did it to some plants they gave me. I cant think of a single other use for them, other than the entertainment they provide for my 5 yr old who loves to cut them into tiny little bits when I’m not paying him enough attention. At least they dont clog up the vaccuum cleaner that way.
Posted by Eileen - 05/15/2009
I think these hangers are a great and creative idea…but I have a small closet so they wouldn’t work for me. I think places like Goodwill could use them and if people need hangers they could take them with them. re Sara: The peanuts do work great in big plant pots as filler. You don’t have to use as much soil which saves money and they help plants drain really well. Also they can be re-used to send gifts to other people and get another use. Also your 5 year old might like to use a bulldozer and pretend they are boulders.
Posted by Elaine - 05/16/2009
I think it’s all in the marketing. Get a catchy name for it (after you’ve copyrighted/patented the design), then blast the name all over creation until everybody knows to look for a particular logo on your packages. Then people will start asking for when they ship things.
Posted by Cheap Packaging - 05/27/2009
Nice idea for a clothing company to use as a gimmick.
Posted by The Green Box | Unclutterer - 07/01/2009
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