Berry Plastics

This was a really cool tour. I think in part due to my choosing of my tour guide. I chose to go with the plastic engineer in hopes that he would divulge and be able to answer questions of a more technical manner. Again, I am amazed at production, and in this case the sheer volume of it. In just a matter of minutes, it goes from a tiny pebbled raw material into a useable designed container. Not just one, but thousands and even millions! It's absolutely crazy and at the same time disturbing that we as a society use that much plastic. Sure it provides jobs, but at what cost? I would be willing to wager that not even 50% of the plastic that leaves that place gets recycled.

Oh look! I'm drinking out of a thermoformed cup and there isn't even a recycle bin at this place of origin to throw it out. Just a common trash bin. What is the hold up with instilling a common mentality of taking care of the earth? It seems as there are a select few who really give a rip about what's going on and no matter how hard (we) they try, it won't change the big picture until a broader portion of the population gets involved.

So, Berry Plastics... a company that exists because we are a disposable/on-the-go/wasteful society. The people have the power to change "the machine" it's for each one of us that these cups are made, that the landfills are littered with trash that can be reused and not add to the abysmal landscape of our collective disregard for the volume of trash that we produce!

I just can't seem to get off this topic this post can I?

Alright, so Materials: Plastic, lots and lots and lots of plastic. Ink.

Processes: Injection Molding and Thermoforming

Manufactured Landscape

As a photographer I found this video very interesting. It's intimidating how many people are involved in some of his shots. I prefer to document what's going on and mostly stay out of the way. It was somewhat of a letdown to see that some of his shots were staged, such as the guy guiding the donkey. Even though, that scene probably plays out a hundred times each day, it was sad to see that he staged it and what we saw as a scene of toil was somewhat staged and the guy was paid to play himself.  Can't exactly explain why it bugs me, but it just seems a little fabricated...

Concerning the magnitude of many of the projects, it was utterly mind blowing the scale of the dam and the number of people it was displacing. Added to that, the fact that they had to destroy their own towns with hammers and other human powered means. Similar to the way the Indonesians disassembled the gigantic cargo ships. They were driven as far up the beach as possible during high tide and then left to be gutted by men and boys with little or no safety equipment. Which is absolutely insane! OSHA would have a hay day!

From the point of design, it makes me question it all. Is all of the scarred landscape worth whatever raw material or structure is effecting the landscape? Is there a better way to do something to leave less of a footprint?

They are important questions that seem to come up time and again in discussions about responsible design.

El Dorado

El Dorado and DI were two of the places we toured that I would like to work at. The wide range of projects they take on would definitely keep things interesting. The city mockup of Wichita was really cool and it was interesting to find out that if they had their choice they would build one for every project they were working on.

The quality and volume of items that they can produce in their small shop is pretty incredible as well.

I was originally accepted into the Master's Program for Architecture at KU, but subsequently switched to Industrial Design for a number of reasons. However, I still have a draw to the field of architecture and working in a place like ElDo would be something that would keep me interested for sure.

Materials: Steel, concrete, brick, (all building construction materials), furniture materials, wood, acrylic.

Processes: drill press, various saws, welding, sanding, finishing.

Teething Toys

Materials:
Exterior - Food Grade Silicone
Liquid - Sterile water or gel

Process:
Exterior formed via injection molding. Two halves formed into one piece. Ring is then filled with liquid and sealed.

Huhtamaki

Huhtamaki was always one of my favorite places to get called to when I worked at Heubel Material Handling. My job was to diagnose and repair electrical, mechanical, and hydraulic problems with forklifts. So, I saw the operation from a completely different point of view, but was intrigued and would take extended breaks to walk through the production area and just watch everything that was going on.

Another amazingly clean environment for production. Granted paper isn't necessarily dirty, but if not kept in check, the whole place could get out of hand rather quickly considering all of the ancillary mechanical processes that are occuring in conjunction with production of the paper products. The food safe standards obviously have a big part to play in the cleanliness of the place.

It would have been cool to see the design process of a cup or a container and how all of the folds and rounded tops are taken into account.

Materials: Cardboard, glue, plastic, foam.

Processes: die cutting, printing, folding,