The Future of Sustainable Packaging by Tomorrow Machine.

‘Expanding Bowl’ by Tomorrow Machine.

Tomorrow Machine is a Swedish design studio based in Stockholm & Paris, specialising in package, product and food concepts. Designers Hanna Billqvist & Anna Glansén have a vision to build a better world through research, new technologies and intelligent materials. They believe in looking at science from a creative point of view to shape the innovations of tomorrow. Their work turns product packaging into unique, intelligent, resourceful and sustainable concept, capable of making a definitive impact on the way we consider waste.

The visionary design duo’s quirky portfolio includes products such as their ‘Sustainable Expanding Bowl’ made out of a 100% bio-based and biodegradable material; ‘Self Cleaning Tableware & Ekoportalby’ made entirely out of cellulose which rejects dirt; ‘Self Opening Package’ that reacts when the temperature (in the oven) is just right; the ‘Microgarden Indoor Growing Kit’ representing next generation of organic home farming; and ‘This Too Shall Pass’ a series of food packages with the same short life span as the foods they contain. Revolutionary stuff!

Read on for our little Q&A to find out more about what these trailblazing young designers get up to.

‘Self Opening Package’ by Tomorrow Machine.

In collaboration with Innventia, Tomorrow Machine developed a bio-degradable package that reacts to heat and opens when the content has reached the right temperature. The container slowly unfolds like a flower in bloom.

+ How do you characterise your design sensibility and your aesthetic? Is there something that’s fundamental to Tomorrow Machine and it’s philosophy?

Mainly we try to keep the material in focus and bring out the properties that we like in it, that’s why we usually keep the shapes simple. We also believe there is no need to make products and packaging more complicated than they should be. It’s a matter of reducing all elements that are unnecessary, not only for aesthetic reasons, but for sustainability reasons, we think that every component and detail that goes into packaging or product should be absolutely motivated by the function, so we don’t add elements for aesthetic reasons only.

‘Microgarden Indoor Growing Kit’ by Tomorrow Machine & INFARM. “The Microgarden uses transparent seaweed based agar-agar gel as a growing medium, and it has many benefits. It allows the Microgarden to remain self-contained – which means you will never have to water the microgreens. Their roots absorb moisture from the gel. The clear gel also allows the home-farmer to see and experience the whole growing process, from when the seeds sprout to the roots growth.”

+ How do you go about establishing a concept and an overall direction for your design projects? Do you have a certain process that you always follow?

How we solve a task is very individual to each case, depending on whether we have a client, or if we do a project on our own. When we work with a client they often have a set brief that we need to work around. But as a start we always try to imagine, not what is possible, but what would be ideal, and what the product would be like in a perfect world. Then we start the sketching based on the image of that perfect product. The next step is to test and experiment with materials, for example when we developed the series of packages ”This too shall pass” we did a lot of tests to explore how different materials react to each other.

‘Self Cleaning Tableware’ by Tomorrow Machine has a special self-cleaning coating that means it never needs washing up. Sign me up!

+ What has been your favourite project so far?

Our favourite project is ”this too shall pass” because it describes us, and what we want to achieve in every project, perfectly. That sustainable design/packaging doesn’t have to be boring, but rather that it can be colourful, smart and engaging.

‘This Too Shall Pass’ packaging for Olive Oil. “A package made of caramelized sugar, coated with wax. To open it you crack it like an egg. When the material is cracked the wax do no longer protect the sugar and the package melts when it comes in contact with water. This package is made for oil-based food.”

‘This Too Shall Pass’ packaging for Basmati Rice. The rice is wrapped in a pyramid of soft beeswax, soy-ink printed and dusted with pearlescent robin’s egg blue. The act of opening the package is very similar to peeling an orange.

+ What’s next – can you share with us your vision, some of your goals and some of your current projects?

In December we are going on a three week long inspiration trip to Japan in order to develop a whole new organic and vegan protein source. We believe that the world needs more plant-based foods for both ethical and environmental reasons. For years it has been a dream of ours to make a environmentaly friendly food product, so we are very excited to start this new project.

‘This Too Shall Pass’ packaging for Raspberry Smoothie. “Gel of the agar-agar seaweed and water are the only components used to make this package. To open it you pick the top. The package will wither at the same rate as it’s content. It is made for drinks that have a short life span and needs to be refrigerated, fresh juice, smoothies and cream for example. The packaging reacts to its environment, for example you could, just by looking at the package, see if it has been exposed to excessive heat during transport.”

[Images courtesy of Tomorrow Machine.]