View Professional Case Study
Adobe Creative Suite 3 Packaging
Design firm
Adobe/IDEO/Tolleson Design
, California
email: sstoecke@adobe.com
ph: 408-536-4811
fax: 408-537-6000
web: www.adobe.com
Date released
3/27/2007
Client
Adobe Systems Incorporated
Contact name
Sandra Stoecker
Project abstract
With the launch of the Creative Suite 3 line of products, Adobe introduced a new look and feel to their product packaging. The new design needed to differentiate from the past, but continue to incite inspiration. Rich, bold colors emblazon boxes, emotionally connecting users to frequently used programs. The amount of "noise" in the design environment is visibly reduced so designers and developers can focus on what matters most, their own work. Additionally, packaging is more eco-friendly and smaller in size. Adobe eliminated some written materials, and now offers them online, saving 300,000,000 printed pages.
Project challenge overview
Adobe was eager to create an eco-friendly packaging system for Creative Suite 3 that eliminated waste paper. Studies showed that up to 300,000,000 printed pages were being used for printed user guides, and that those printed pages have a shelf life of 18x24 months before being rendered obsolete by a new product release. Adobe wanted to ensure it wasn't transferring the ecological load from one part of the process to another. Adobe also conveyed its environmental concerns to the vendors who help produce the products in an effort to spread the word.
Project solution details
More than two-thirds of customers now look for information online first, up from less than one-third of customers in the late 1990s. Accordingly, Adobe made Creative Suite 3 instruction manuals available online, allowing for smaller, more lightweight packaging. Adobe also invested in improving its online learning resources, introducing Adobe Bridge Home as an in-product source of learning tips, techniques, and learning resources; increasing the variety and depth of free video training offered for each product; and experimenting with an in-product palette called Know How that pulls relevant online links into the context of the application.
Coated/uncoated/other
coated
PCW (recycled) content
Part of the CS3 box is 100% recycled
FSC certified content
Some materials are FSC and others are SFI
Inks & coatings used
We used metallic ink for some of our packaging but are in the process of removing this for future releases. The majority of our suppliers use vegetable-based inks. The interior packaging is void of inks.
Does the printer have an ISO 14001 compliant or certified environmental management system?
Yes
Is the printer FSC certified?
Yes
What more were you able to do to make this project more environmentally responsible?
We had previously shipped products in a box that was approximately 8-1/2" x 9-1/2" x 2.5". This was greatly reduced for CS3. We also chose for the first time for major releases to only offer a printed Getting Started Guide of approximately 26 pages in the box, forgoing in all but a few products a large page count user manual. We have not captured our savings in carbon footprint with this but know that we greatly reduced our use of materials and raw stock. The final design is both beautiful and efficient to produce, incorporating a die-cut production method and folding inserts to minimize the use of glue. Appearing to be wrapped in paper, the design also uses color inserts to denote specific software, enabling the packaging to be used across several software platforms and reduce the number of SKUs used during production. Inside the box, IDEO shrank the size and changed the orientation of the manual to match the size of the DVD case, resulting in a booklet that could be set in front of a keyboard and easily flipped through.
Design firm
Adobe/IDEO/Tolleson Design
, California
email: sstoecke@adobe.com
ph: 408-536-4811
fax: 408-537-6000
web: www.adobe.com
Date released
3/27/2007
Client
Adobe Systems Incorporated
Contact name
Sandra Stoecker
Project abstract
With the launch of the Creative Suite 3 line of products, Adobe introduced a new look and feel to their product packaging. The new design needed to differentiate from the past, but continue to incite inspiration. Rich, bold colors emblazon boxes, emotionally connecting users to frequently used programs. The amount of "noise" in the design environment is visibly reduced so designers and developers can focus on what matters most, their own work. Additionally, packaging is more eco-friendly and smaller in size. Adobe eliminated some written materials, and now offers them online, saving 300,000,000 printed pages.
Project challenge overview
Adobe was eager to create an eco-friendly packaging system for Creative Suite 3 that eliminated waste paper. Studies showed that up to 300,000,000 printed pages were being used for printed user guides, and that those printed pages have a shelf life of 18x24 months before being rendered obsolete by a new product release. Adobe wanted to ensure it wasn't transferring the ecological load from one part of the process to another. Adobe also conveyed its environmental concerns to the vendors who help produce the products in an effort to spread the word.
Project solution details
More than two-thirds of customers now look for information online first, up from less than one-third of customers in the late 1990s. Accordingly, Adobe made Creative Suite 3 instruction manuals available online, allowing for smaller, more lightweight packaging. Adobe also invested in improving its online learning resources, introducing Adobe Bridge Home as an in-product source of learning tips, techniques, and learning resources; increasing the variety and depth of free video training offered for each product; and experimenting with an in-product palette called Know How that pulls relevant online links into the context of the application.
Coated/uncoated/other
coated
PCW (recycled) content
Part of the CS3 box is 100% recycled
FSC certified content
Some materials are FSC and others are SFI
Inks & coatings used
We used metallic ink for some of our packaging but are in the process of removing this for future releases. The majority of our suppliers use vegetable-based inks. The interior packaging is void of inks.
Does the printer have an ISO 14001 compliant or certified environmental management system?
Yes
Is the printer FSC certified?
Yes
What more were you able to do to make this project more environmentally responsible?
We had previously shipped products in a box that was approximately 8-1/2" x 9-1/2" x 2.5". This was greatly reduced for CS3. We also chose for the first time for major releases to only offer a printed Getting Started Guide of approximately 26 pages in the box, forgoing in all but a few products a large page count user manual. We have not captured our savings in carbon footprint with this but know that we greatly reduced our use of materials and raw stock. The final design is both beautiful and efficient to produce, incorporating a die-cut production method and folding inserts to minimize the use of glue. Appearing to be wrapped in paper, the design also uses color inserts to denote specific software, enabling the packaging to be used across several software platforms and reduce the number of SKUs used during production. Inside the box, IDEO shrank the size and changed the orientation of the manual to match the size of the DVD case, resulting in a booklet that could be set in front of a keyboard and easily flipped through.
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