The Tear-To-Share

The Whole Package team took inspiration from the design of party crackers or poppers to create a unique product package system that holds two 7.5 oz Coca-Cola mini cans that helps to promote the “Share a Coke” campaign. This inspiration led to the Tear-to-Share, a packaging system meant to be “popped” and shared between two friends, partners, classmates, or coworkers. It is a refrigerated retail-ready package featuring a custom auto-lock top and bottom, a Yoshimura crease pattern, and a perforated line designed for the perfect “pop.” Throughout the design process, our team kept the three main functions of packaging– protection, utility, and communication at the center of our ideation, design, and prototyping stages to create a functional packaging system for a product as iconic as a can of Coke. The Tear-to-Share is made of Clay Coated Newsback, CCNB is made out of 100% recycled paper-based materials making it a better material choice for supporting Coca-Cola's sustainability initiatives. Our packaging system incorporates several aspects of designing for manufacturability. Our dieline’s dimensions (KD) span 12.375” by 8.875”, and possess a uniform shape reducing a significant amount of gutter space during manufacturing processes. This was a priority for our team during the design process to maximize manufacturability while reducing the amount of waste–oftentimes created by dieline blanks. With the design of our own custom auto-lock top and bottom, glue is only used to secure the package along the glue flap which is also necessary for efficiency on a manufacturing line. Additionally, our packaging system offers both utility and innovation by transforming into drink koozies upon tearing, providing added functionality for the consumer.

Our graphic design process involved working meticulously to blend our complex structural design with geometric art-deco graphics. Our goal was to design graphics that kept the spirit of the Coca-Cola iconic “Share a Coke” campaign’s branding and messaging while incorporating our creative influence on the product package system. Another key part of the Tear-to-Share graphic design process was ensuring that the utility of “popping” the package in half was effectively communicated by the unique product display panel. The graphics feature some of Coca-Cola’s signature digital packaging communication features like the “Sip & Scan” label, a smart label for product information, and a how2recycle label that includes recycling information for both the primary and secondary package. To create a uniform brand using the graphics, Coca-Cola Red is the main color across the whole package, paired with some tints of Coca-Cola red in the geometric pattern, and some white and black for typography.

Design Rationale Document