Keep It in the Closet

Admit it. Your grandmother is more ecologically correct than you. I know mine is. A holiday never passed without her telling me to be careful not to rip the wrapping paper—“I can use it again,” she’d boast. Along those thrifty lines, the branding gurus at the architecture firm Miloby Ideasystems have come up with a […]

Admit it. Your grandmother is more ecologically correct than you. I know mine is. A holiday never passed without her telling me to be careful not to rip the wrapping paper—“I can use it again,” she’d boast. Along those thrifty lines, the branding gurus at the architecture firm Miloby Ideasystems have come up with a parcel that keeps on giving.

Since they specialize in architecture, branding, and products, Miloby’s Tobias Lundquist and Milana Kosovac have become a one-stop shop for their clients. That soup-to-nuts approach recently led to a project for a digital production studio (for whom they’ve designed everything from interiors and logos to advertising and a Web site): packaging that transforms a box holding a sweatshirt into the hanger used to store it.

“Our client sends out thousands of promotional gifts,” says Kosovac. “This year, we wanted to reduce the environmental impact of the packaging and raise awareness about the three Rs”—reduce, reuse, recycle—“in a creative way.” With a turnaround time of two weeks, the creative duo were lucky to find a container company willing to test the unorthodox packaging. Kosovac says, “It was a little tricky to get the punctures just right, but the company liked the challenge and tested it right away.” Further eco-considerations were taken when they chose single-ink direct printing on boxes, thus requiring no lamination or glue.

This was the fifth year that Miloby was hired by the client to get creative with gift giving, and past promotional mailings have been equally clever. Last year, the pair sent out RED products (Bono’s enviro branchild) in unprinted potato sacks closed with twine. Next time, in the unlikely event that the folks at Miloby are tapped out on green ideas, they might just want to call their grandmothers.

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