KNEAD performs as not only a protective container for baked goods but also an intrinsic stand to proudly display all your blood sweat and tears that have gone into making your masterpiece. Purchased with a 'belly full' of cake in your local store KNEAD is transported into your home where it serves as a geometric airtight container or given as a gift. Donning your apron KNEAD can be transformed into a flexible cake stand. Furthermore it will merrily live in your cupboard waiting for your next bake which won't be long with the lure of more recipes on it's side.

How can packaging become lovable and perhaps more than a protective receptacle? When purchasing your favourite baked good, be it savoury or sweet the packaging encompassing it is not designed to live longer than the car journey or perhaps the distance to the next public waste bin. KNEAD challenges how we interact with plastic packaging it wants to be retained and therefore stems the idea of giving packaging as a gift. Presenting a bought or hand baked good KNEAD acts as both a protective container but also a pretty cake stand when opened to reveal it's belly full of cake. Arriving in a variety of sizes the malleable packaging can store from a single cup cake up to a Victoria Sponge.

With sustainability in mind KNEAD tackles the desire to throw away our plastic goods on an emotional level by the way we value our possessions. Being able to apply itself as a cake stand, but also presented as a gift, is the key to push plastic packaging's sustainable boundaries further than to simply make them out of an eco-friendly material.

I wanted to make customer's think before they picked up a piece of plastic packaging. To really emphasise how we lack conscience when browsing the supermarket shelves towards our baked goods. Baked goods must be one of the worst culprits for packaging waste. It is not designed to be airtight for long periods for fresh products, neither for repetitive use, merely to get from 'A to B'. From a sustainable background it is just routine for myself now to look at the materials our packaging is made from and source out a more sustainable alternative. However for many the education to really understand what material the packaging is made from, how it is produced and how it is disposed of is limited. Companies are taking on the WRAP system such as Marks and Spencer's displaying logos such as 'Closed-loop-system', but how many people really understand these symbols and what really happens to the plastic we do try to recycle. Therefore KNEAD's additional purpose is to inform it's customer's of how it has been created. The geometric form has many faces and therefore space to inform customer's through a little booklet embedded onto it's side of how it was made. Knowing the origin of your possessions is nothing new with hallmarks in metal and stamps on ceramics so why not apply this to plastic also?

Natural observation is where I began this process before putting pen to paper. Browsing shops such as Marks and Spencer which are proud of their recycling labeling system I noted the time it took for customer's to choose their baked goods from the shelves. Primarily to see how they interacted with the packaging and if they took into consideration the packaging or simply the quality of it's contents. It became clear that although the packaging was 'pretty' and attractive it lacked voice towards the materials it is made from. Progressing on from this I wanted to understand the motivation towards baked goods, the statistics were tremendous. The rise in sales primarily towards cake stands and baking utensils had soared in the British market. The Great British Bakeoff is the spark for this enthusiasm to get into the kitchen and get baking no matter how skilled you are. Providing baked goods as presents is the platform on which has KNEAD evolved.

Investigating the recyclability of plastic was enlightening. KNEAD will be made of PC Plastic mainly because of it's viability to be recycled and therefore extending it's end of life for plastic products. Plastic can be sourced and produced from PlasticWorld China.Stores that sell KNEAD will have a return policy allowing the product to be returned and recycled. The closed-loop-system integration was essential for KNEAD's sustainable emphasis to run alongside the desire to retain the packaging, making it a possession.

KNEAD is a practical product. Utilizing it's primary job to protect it's goods, to be air-tight and food safe it also can transform into a cake stand. Acting as a multi-functional object, KNEAD is exceptionally excellent at transporting your cakes whether homemade or shop bought, and is providing a gift to friends and family. Whoever thought you would present packaging as the element to your gift alongside your cake? This is how KNEAD is valued. By informing customers on how KNEAD was made and integrating an end of life system the option to dispose your product in an environmentally friendly way is available, but KNEAD encourages you to retain it as packaging and put it to good use around your home. The unusual shape for packaging, storage and display make KNEAD a lovable rogue.