Edelman, Samsung, and Papersmith Create A Small World From Repurposed Packaging

One way to reduce packaging waste is to find new uses for it after removing the product. Even if the material is recyclable, by repurposing and extending the life of a container, you negate the need for new material. Sometimes using items like tins to store items can serve as an unwelcome disappointment, but electronics maker Samsung set to find a way to breathe new life into old packaging that’s more fun than opening up a tin of Danish cookies only to find sewing supplies.

In celebration of World Environment Day, Samsung has teamed up with Edelman and paper artist AJ Smith, also known as Papersmith, to create and release a wonderful set of papercraft templates as part of the electronics brand’s “Small World” campaign. The templates come designed to breathe new life into used Samsung packages, but the patterns and instructions can get used with any cardboard boxes. Animals such as birds, pandas, octopi, and whales join cherry blossom trees and windmills to create a fun landscape that will inspire creativity and play.

"I was drawn to the Samsung Small World project because it's really nice that a brand is also trying to consider all parts of their production and not just see their packaging as something secondary, and something just to be thrown away,” Smith said. “Part of the like charm about this project is, you know, when a little kid is, say, holding like this paper bird, there'll be imagining something so much more. And it's nice to be able to design and make a few elements to help create a small world that will grow into something much larger in the children's imagination.”

“I'm hoping this project helps inspire people to then look at packaging and keep playing with it and turning it into new elements with just a couple of little cuts and a few folds here and there, giving a new life to something you might not have necessarily considered keeping before. So we're just more mindful about waste and what we're throwing away,” Papersmith added.

In addition to the new patterns, an animated video featuring the paper models blends stop-motion and live photography with computer graphics was produced in partnership with Glassworks VFX and co-directed by Smith and Camille Herren.

This marks the latest Samsung effort to give its packaging a new purpose through a bit of creativity and craft. Last year, Samsung introduced templates built into some of its packaging, which turned the boxes into TV stands, storage containers, magazine racks, and cat houses.

Templates for Small World cardboard figures are available now for free at TheSmallWorldCollection.com.