Package Design - January/February 2014 - 36

FIELD NOTES

Ready to Grow

Is this packaging concept innovative
enough to develop an eco-centric
idea into a viable brand?

THE PRODUCT
Designed to be a waste-free packaging alternative for seeds,
the Seedcell traces its roots to a concept piece in the 2011
New Designers show in London. After a positive showing,
Daniel Robson of Green Digit Gardening, grew the concept
to the pre-production stage. Today, Seedcell is ready for
commercial manufacturing, and it's clearly a packaging engineering feat.
Each Seedcell wheel is made from 100% recycled paper
pulp, which provides a nutrient-rich environment for each
plant after germination. The wheel is perforated so that each
seed is contained in its own dibbler. This helps gardeners sow
the seed at the correct depth, while the paper structure helps
regulate moisture for germination and the resulting seedling.

The Seedcell may deliver a more convenient and reliable
gardening experience, but can this design grow the concept
into a viable brand?

THE VERDICT
There's a certain prestige in a more modest, thoughtful approach to life lately,
and Seedcell fits right in with this "less is
more" mentality. I can see this simple,
decorative design working in high-end
channels among green-minded city
dwellers willing to pay more to get
grounded with a little light gardening.
There are plenty of plantable packages out there-even Triscuit encourages home farming with a seed card in
cracker boxes. But I like that the wheel
is designed with new gardeners in mind.
It could be good for teaching tiny gardeners-just add a plant growth chart to
the tag so kids can track each plant's
progress.
Liz Seelye, managing director of innovation,
Sterling-Rice Group

Seedcell feels like a fun, novel and
engaging innovation, for creating a personal organic garden. The simplicity of
36

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014

the package design lacks personality, but
structurally does provide an easy integration to the world of planting and gardening. Overall, the branding seems to
deprive the consumer of a promise that
they are making a healthy life choice.

I think the product design and product
packaging of Seedcell is brilliant. That
being said, when I turn my attention
away from the clever product design to
the actual graphics on the packaging, I
was disappointed.
The designer went with the typical
earth tones, expected hand-drawn font
and the look of a green product. The
graphics lack imagination and do litlit
tle to help it stand out at retail. They are
not equal to the high level of thinking
that went into the development of the
product nor the package construction-
both of which are fantastic.
If this product is to compete at a
higher price point as a giftable novelty
item, which is how I believe it should be
marketed, then their graphics should be
as inventive and imaginative as the product they are selling. PD

Andrew Laufer, innovation product design lead at
MolsonCoors Canada

Amy Graver, owner and creative director of
Elements
Package Design - January/February 2014

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