Details
Fathom's sample kits were being thrown away on arrival. We designed a single die-cut shell that posts flat, opens into a standing display on a specifier's desk, and folds back down for return — which cut the per-kit cost and the material loss at the same time.
Client
Fathom Goods
year
2023
Brief
Twelve samples, one sheet of board
Ship twelve material samples, post them flat, and have them survive being handled for a month. No foam, no adhesive, one board weight.
Fathom had been sending samples loose in padded envelopes. They arrived scuffed and in no particular order, and specifiers were judging a finish from a sample that had spent three days rubbing against eleven others.
The real constraints came from the warehouse rather than the brief. One board weight because they stock one. No adhesive because nobody has time to glue. Flat because postage is priced by thickness.
Everything after that was folding.
My Process
Research
We asked twelve specifiers what happened to the last kit they received. Most were binned the same day, usually because there was nowhere to put them.
Brainstorming
That reframed the brief from packaging to furniture: the kit had to earn desk space. Standing up turned out to be the whole idea.
Prototyping
Eleven die-cut mock-ups in one board weight, no foam and no glue. The winner goes flat-pack to standing display in four folds.
Production
One die, one board, fully returnable. Kits now come back to be refilled rather than thrown away, which took 40% off the per-kit cost.
Outcome
One die, no glue
One die, one board, no glue. Kits now come back for refilling instead of going in the bin.
Flat-pack to standing display in four folds
Per-kit cost down 40%
Returnable and refillable
Four folds take it from an envelope to a standing display with the twelve samples held in their own slots. Specifiers keep it on the desk, which is a habit the old envelope never earned.
The forty per cent saving is mostly postage and breakage rather than material. A kit that arrives flat and intact does not need replacing, and about a third now come back to be refilled.
Fathom have since run the same die for two other ranges by changing only the printed sheet. We did not design for that, but a single die tends to invite it.
