OUGD503 - Responsive: Future of Bacon Packaging - Making the Inside

I wanted to make a plastic bag for the bacon to go in, and I didn't know how to go about this. So I went to the 3D workshop at Vernon Street to see what I could achieve. I wanted to do vacuum skin packaging in a custom sized plastic bag.

I couldn't make it vacuum skinned, but I could make a bag which was good enough for me as I only had to produce a mock up and the brief states that if I don't have the facilities to do what I want it doesn't matter.

I used a vacuum sealer which allowed me to create this. After using it, I realised how easy and quick it was to do. This made me wonder if I could get a grip seal bag and resize this using the vacuum sealer.

I needed to think of how I could mock up bacon for the inside of my packaging, as I don't want to use real bacon and send that off as it will go off. I tried looking for dog toys and plastic bacon but to no success. So I then thought about printing a picture of bacon, and sticking it onto mountboard or wood.

So I took my own picture of bacon, as the only suitable ones I could find were stock photos which I had to buy, so I didn't want to go against copyright laws. Also it meant it would be high quality and exactly what I wanted.

I then took it into Photoshop and used the quick selection tool to just select the bacon and delete the background.

I then printed it onto satin paper and mountboard. It looked quite green and subdued on the mountboard, but vibrant on the satin. So I am going to stick this onto mountboard.

I stuck it onto mountboard.

Here is what it looked like when I cut it out with a scalpel. To be honest it doesn't look that bad, I just think I will put a few together to make it thicker.

I put it in the little mock up I printed out, and it fit, but the packaging definitely needs to be thinner.

I then went to make the plastic bag for it. To do this I used a heat sealer which cuts and seals plastic. I got an existing grip seal bag so that it could be resealable, and cut it to the size of the bacon.

I put the plastic in the sealer and then clamp it to seal it, and pull the lever past which cuts it.

I made a few, trying to get it straight and as small as possible.

To improvise and shrink wrap it a little bit, I got a plastic tube.

I then opened up the bag a little bit, sucked out the air and closed it quickly.

It did look better once I sucked some of the air out.

When I put it in the packaging it is actually a bit bigger than what I have made because the sealer puts a bit of excess plastic around where it seals, so I will have to alter this.