Tag Archives: cardboard

These sci-fi-inspired detailed sculptures with LED lights + moveable parts are made from cardboard!

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Based in Melbourne, Greg Olijnyk (@gregolijnyk) creates detailed cardboard sculptures inspired by sci-fi and fantasy! From a sci-fi-inspired retelling of David and Goliath to a quirky robot riding a Vespa, all of Olijnyk’s works display intricate detailing, exquisite craftsmanship, and almost realistic technicality. Besides cardboard, he also amps up his sculptures with LED lights, glass, springs, and even toothpicks when needed! It’s hard to believe that these intriguing futuristic pieces are actually carved from cardboard! But one thing is for sure, Olijnyk’s work will leave you completely mesmerized and wanting more!

This sci-fi-inspired retelling of the tale of David and Goliath is one of Olijnyk’s most famous works! It features an oversized robot being struck down by a samurai.

Titled The New Neighbours, this piece features a pair of eerie and almost ominous-looking buildings. Flickering lights add on to the creepy-ish vibe of the cardboard sculptures.

The Dragonfly as its name suggests is a robotic jet-powered dragonfly! The beautiful hexagon pattern on the wings is a specimen of amazing craftmanship…and that too on cardboard!

This is the first robot Olijnyk created, and he aptly named it #1! The sharp edges and intricate detailing are excellent, especially for a first project. Did you notice the clock encased in his chest?

Named The Caption, this sculpture features an impressive ship out at sea, with a legendary captain on board! Olijnyk intended the sails to double up as solar panels which in turn power the fan that blows the panel when there is no wind! Quite interesting, no?

Titled #9, the upper spherical section of this sculpture actually rotates and tilts the way a telescope would, while the lower reactor section pulses!

The Vesbot features a robot riding a Vespa! Tire treads, curves on the body panel and spinning wheels make the Vespa look super realistic and technical. This has to be one of my favorite sculptures!

This futuristic piece represents an assembly line. A retro robot is being assembled and put together by modern robots! Quite ironic, no?

This quirky one-eyed robot has been amped with little wheels and plenty of technical detailing! It’s hard to believe this is all cardboard.

This mecha-inspired robot was built by Olijnyk, based on a design by Dmitriev Vasiliy. The weapon work is incredible!

Meet the Box, a sustainable and safe alternative to cardboard packaging that can be reused for a 1000 times!

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The year of the pandemic has changed the way people use e-commerce – online shopping figures have scaled new pinnacles, meaning there is an abundance of packaging waste ending up in landfills. Cardboard has its own merits as a packaging material but the amount of waste it generates is inseparable. Thankfully then, there is a Berlin-based brand dubbed LivingPackets, which has conceived an ingenious solution to minimize waste associated with shipping.

The company has designed an alternative to cardboard boxes and it’s simply called ‘The Box.’ Four years in development, it was again revealed at the CES 2021 with some improvements. The Box is a sustainable option for the e-commerce industry and can allegedly be used to ship up to 1000 times. In contrast, cardboard boxes have a single life from point of packaging to the point of delivery. If the municipality at the location of delivery recycles, the cardboard gets a new lease of life; else it goes waste and injures the environment. In addition to the sustainability aspect, the neatly designed ‘Box’ is equivalent to approximately two shoe boxes and it can be used to ship a large number of commodities. Interestingly, the Box can even fold flat to ship important documents or a laptop. Traditionally sending an important paper by mail/courier is not at all safe – you cannot be sure how it’s being handled on the way – and you have to rely simply on the logistics company’s tracking mechanism to know where your parcel has reached.

The Box is going to revolutionize this when it is mass-produced toward May this year. The inventive box comes embedded with GPS to allow the sender/receiver to track the package from point A to B and everywhere in between in real-time using a dedicated app on a smart device. Simply place the item inside the Box, close it, enter the destination, and the onboard e-ink display will double as a traditional print label to update its journey status.

LivingPackets’ Box is currently in beta testing with partner companies, which include e-commerce stores, logistics, and even insurance companies. To ensure the commodity in the package is safe – not just because it is trackable – also safe in transit, the Box features temperature and shock sensors. There is also a provision to include a camera inside in the future, which would allow people to keep an eye on the product they’re shipping within the Box packaging.

Since this packaging solution seems too good to be true, most of us would instantly count it out for being expensive and for the elite only. However, the environmentally friendly and innovative Box is pretty affordable, in fact, the company wants to keep the costs as low as traditional cardboard packaging. At the end of the life cycle, the Box will be repaired and refurbished to “be used additional 1000 times” LivingPackets claims. Proposing to eliminate up to 90-percent of carbon dioxide emissions, the Box has a holding mechanism within, which means not just the cardboard is replaced, the air-filled bubbled plastic, Styrofoam, etc. used to secure products inside the packaging box are also eliminated. Now that’s fab – I can’t wait to see this new package land at my doorsteps one fine morning!

Designer: LivingPackets

 

This design studio turns cardboard boxes into stools & animal shelters in a bid to reduce waste!

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Sustainability is taking over the world, and especially the design world as they come up with solutions, by a storm. You can see it everywhere from architecture to products and one of my favorite categories is packaging design. By innovating the product structure, the design transformed small common objects that are easily forgotten by people into something more useful and meaningful.

Designed as a packaging solution for Pampers, P-Box is an innovative project that can help the diaper brand reduce its packaging waste. The aim was to give more meaning to the cardboard shipping boxes by transforming them into simple (yet special!) things. The online shopping industry is massive and shipping boxes are the largest recyclable waste category – in fact, based on data there are 50 million tons of discarded cardboard boxes became waste in China which is also one of the largest markets and manufacturers for the industry. So P-Box gives these cardboard boxes a new purpose by turning them into innovative objects for daily use. You can turn it into a cat shelter, a lightweight stool that can be flat-packed, use it to store items you only occasionally use like that guests-only dinnerware, and lastly it can also be used as a sustainable alternative to gift bags/wrapping papers.

To transform the box into the mentioned objects, you don’t need any assembly expertise – it is just basic craft knowledge and using the existing material at hand. “Through different topics and concepts, the design did not just meet the basic functionalities for daily uses but also other humanitarian benefits, such as compartmentalizing wastes, giving homeless animals a shelter, etc. This brought an entirely different perception on such an ordinary thing, this huge contrast brought awareness to the public that ‘small actions can make a great difference,” says the team at RONG Design. Too simple? Then there is no excuse to not repurpose your next online order box!

Designer: RONG Design

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Cardboard Cat TARDIS Is Perfect for Doctor Mew

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Did you know that on Gallifrey, all cats roam free? Well, you shouldn’t, since I just made that up. But I have it on good authority that the next time the good Doctor regenerates, he’s going to be turned into a cat. So it’s a good thing that somebody has already worked out a TARDIS that’s just the right size for Doctor Mew.

The guys over at CacaoPets sell this TARDIS-inspired cat house that’s the perfect place for your kitty to hang out inside of as they get ready for their next mission across time and space. No glue is required, so you just follow the directions and slide the pieces together. It’s made from thick 4mm corrugated cardboard, which is much sturdier than those Amazon boxes you have lying around and were thinking about building your own cat TARDIS from. That said, I know of no cardboard that can withstand the claws of a feline hellbent on turning everything into a scratching post.

The finished cat TARDIS measures just under 19″ square and a little over 21″ tall. It may even be bigger on the inside, making it just right for kitty and their faithful companion to travel in. Rather than being powered by The Eye of Harmony, this TARDIS gets its energy from pure catnip, so be sure to stock up. If you’re ready to send your cat on a mission to defeat K9 and his army of robot dogs, you can find the cat TARDIS over on Etsy for $81.

Artist Makes Birds from Cardboard Packaging

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Spring is sprung, da grass is riz, I wonder where dem boidies is? Well, actually, it’s the sweaty, 90º+ part of summer here at the moment, but after seeing these adorable papercraft birds, I couldn’t get that old poem out of my head.

These artful bird mini-sculptures were made by artist Ruud van Koningsbrugge, who created them out of torn up bits of packaging from various products. Rather than feathers, these fine friends are made from boxes from cookies, tea, frozen vegetables, and breakfast cereals. Other than that, there’s a bit of hot glue to hold them together, and some twisted wire for their legs and feet.

Ruud has shared an Instructables lesson so you can make your own cardboard birdies. It actually doesn’t look that tricky, assuming you have a good eye for color and start with some good reference images of birds to look at while you build yours. If you’re not feeling up to the artistic challenge, you can always purchase one of the artist’s ready-made original bird sculptures over on his Etsy shop.

[via Rusty’s Electric Dreams via Nag on the Lake]

This $65 DIY furniture kit is designed to creatively balance at-home learning and play!

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Kids have been home since March and although it has just been a couple of months, it feels like years for parents as they juggle work from home with school from home! As we all adjust to the new normal, we are also swallowing the hard pill that schools may not reopen for the rest of the year. Even if they do, it will only be part-time so children will still be home for the majority of the time. To make adjusting easier for both parents and the kids, Rosan Bosch, a Danish designer has collaborated with the innovative furniture maker Stykka to give us Wonder DIY –  a set of simple cardboard kits that encourage learning as well as provide functional usage.

Wonder DIY has four different kits that come with cardboard elements that allow your child to create their own learning landscape. As they make their own ‘desks’, it gives them a sense of owning their space and creating a physical learning environment outside of school. Children can learn and be entertained as they build, re-build, and re-invent their learning space – playfulness and purpose make the core of these kits! “Adults are not the only ones who feel like their lives are out of control because of the coronavirus,” says Bosch. “Children are feeling it as well. These kits are designed to empower them and make them feel in control of their environment on some level.”

The design equips the child to continue active learning through curiosity and creativity – the modular nature of the boards let them build their own study-play area and the blank cardboard also serves as a canvas for art projects. The four models are SUN, CAVE, ISLAND, and TREE. The SUN is a theatre setup for kids to practice their presentation skills and the CAVE lets them concentrate and reflect in an ‘open cave’ that transforms into a hiding place when a blanket is draped on top (I can imagine some adults really liking this one too!). ISLAND has one of the most practical functions as it offers a table and exhibition wall that provides a surface to study and be creative while TREE lets them showcase ideas and sit under a ‘tree’ – alone in concentration, or together in collaboration.

Recycled cardboard was chosen as it is affordable, easy to assemble/disassemble, lightweight, and durable for children to work with. All sets are made to be modular and flexible to maximize creativity. “We have developed a practice with six principles to guide the design of learning environments for the 21st century. Wonder DIY is based on these design principles that empower children to reflect on and plan their own learning journey,” says the team. Everyone is a natural born creative thinker, all they need are the right tools to make wonderful things happen!

Designers: Rosan Bosch Studio and Stykka

Click Here to Buy Now!

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Someone Built the Death Star II from Cardboard: That’s No Amazon Box!

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If there’s one thing you can count on in the Star Wars universe, it’s that if you build a big round killer space station, it’s sure to have some kind of major weakness that can be exploited to blow it to smithereens. In the case of the original Death Star, it was the exhaust port. For the Death Star II, its deflector shield could be remotely deactivated. This Death Star’s vulnerability? It’s made out of cardboard and hot glue.

YouTuber Epic Cardboard Props does exactly what his name says, and creates amazing props and replicas out of cardboard. He’s built all kinds of amazing constructions, including a cardboard Millennium Falcon, a cardboard Space Shuttle, a cardboard M41a pulse rifle, and this here cardboard Death Star II, which is based on the space station’s look prior to its construction being completed.

It’s a pretty amazing build with lots of nifty details, like those exposed interior floors made from stacked up layers of cardboard. The build video shows how he put it all together, and offers lots of tips and tricks should you decide to make your own cardboard Death Star.

Like what you see? You can support Epic Cardboard Props’ future build efforts on Patreon, or you can purchase templates for his various designs from his shop. The Death Star II template is just $1.99, and all you need is a bunch of cardboard, some hot glue, an X-Acto knife, and an endless supply of time and patience.

A few Nintendo Labo kits drop to $20 each on Best Buy

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If you, or more likely your children, are looking for a way to mix up your gaming while you’re home social distancing, you may be interested in two deals Best Buy is offering on Nintendo Labo gear. Today, the Labo Toy-Con VR kit and blaster are on sa...