Mars Modular Shelving
Creating a Sustainability Story for Mars Confectionary Shelving.
Brand Story
Mars is a large confectionary company which owes brands including M&Ms, Snickers and Maltesers.
The Challenge
We were approached by ‘Mars’ to design an environmentally conscious confectionery shelving unit. The goal was to replace the uninspiring and unsustainable steel units currently present in ‘Shell’ forecourts with a fully ownable, eye-catching, and adaptable proposition.
My Responsibilities
Sustainability
Find a sustainable material for Mars to use in their point-of-sale activities.
How? - Collaborate with Medoola to create a sheet material derived from chocolate production waste, which is both recyclable and structurally secure.
Modularity
Design a modular unit with interchangeable parts for seasonal activation
How? - Employ traditional woodworking techniques, leverage the inherent properties of the materials, and incorporate clever design tricks.
Customer Engagement
Stay ahead of the restrictive regulations on confectionery sales by creating a captivating “destination” confectionary shelving unit.
How? - Engage people through a compelling material brand story conveyed through applied graphic treatments.
Concept Development
Quick rough sketching evolved into several iterations of CAD models, eventually leading us to a design that could adapt across different environments, campaigns, and use cases.
Ready for Production
As we moved into production, we collaborated closely with all stakeholders, especially the manufacturers, to ensure the design was functional, safe, and cost-effective. This stage involved building scale prototypes, developing engineering drawings, and creating a 'build booklet' to be distributed with the flat-pack units.
The Final Design
To provide a realistic representation of the final design, we applied dummy graphics and filled the shelves with confectionery samples. This allowed us to showcase how the unit would look tangibly.
