Miao Jingyi and Zou Hu · CLIENT: Mz Design
Tests have shown that the effective ingredients concentration of ordinary hanging teabag liquid is only 40 percent of that when directly brewing medicine. This is because ordinary teabags wrap medicine inside, making it difficult for water to flow smoothly from the inside out. This design aims to increase the effective drug concentration and reduce medicine waste. We also hope to use origami technique to save more volume in the product to implement sustainable design concepts. When water is poured into it, it will unfold layer by layer from a flat folded shape, forming a barrel structure.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- This traditional Chinese medicine teabag can improve the extraction efficiency of water on ingredient when brewing and improve the "effective ingredients concentration" in medicine liquid.
This teabag adopts the process of "origami". When water is poured into it, it will unfold layer by layer from a flat folded shape, forming a barrel structure. This design not only ensures extraction efficiency, but also reduces the package volume by 60%, reducing carbon emissions during transportation. - Dimensions & Packaging
- During the design process, we created models of different sizes and collected user feedback and data. After ergonomic testing, the product was selected in the following dimensions: 95 mm x 95 mm x 16 mm. The outer packaging was selected in the following sizes: 100 mm x 100 mm x 100 mm.
The outer packaging is made of 100% biodegradable and renewable paper, which is lightweight and sustainable. It is printed with environmentally friendly ink to reduce pressure on the environment. - Tags
- Traditional Chinese Medicine, Teabag, Sustainable Design, Fold Structure, Reduce Waste
- Production Technology
- This design uses 100% biodegradable and renewable paper as the raw material to produce environmentally friendly food grade filter paper. Folds are formed through the origami pressing process, resulting in a flat folding structure. The outer packaging also uses biodegradable and renewable paper, which is lightweight and environmentally friendly.
This folding structure design reduces transportation space by 60%, reducing production costs and carbon emissions during transportation. - Design Challenge
- The most difficult part of this design is the early testing stage, where testing the efficacy of various teabags on the market requires the use of expensive testing instruments and a long cycle.
The shape design of this product is also a challenge. It not only needs to be beautiful, but also needs to achieve the function of maximizing the "concentration of active ingredient". - Project Duration
- The project started in July 2022 and finished in April 2023 in Guangzhou, China.
- Operation Flow
- Open the packaging, take out the medicine bag and remove the lid. Place the medicine bag above the cup and pour in hot water for brewing. During the brewing process, the medicine package will unfold layer by layer from a flat folded shape, forming a barrel like structure. After 2-5 minutes, it is ready to drink.
- Research
- Through searching academic papers and conducting interviews with users, we have summarized a teabag usage process that is in line with daily habits.
Physical tests have shown that the "effective drug concentration" of ordinary hanging teabag liquid is only 40% of that when directly brewing medicine. This design improves the efficiency of brewing and reduces transportation space by 60%, reducing production costs and carbon emissions during transportation. - Inspiration
- Tests have shown that the "effective ingredients concentration" of ordinary hanging teabag liquid is only 40% of that when directly brewing medicine. This is because ordinary teabags wrap medicine inside, making it difficult for water to flow smoothly from the inside out.
This design aims to increase the “effective drug concentration” and reduce medicine waste. We also hope to use origami technique to save more volume in the product to implement sustainable design concepts. - Image Credits
- Image #1: Photographer Miao Jingyi, Fold, 2023.
Image #2: Photographer Miao Jingyi, Fold, 2023.
Image #3: Photographer Miao Jingyi, Fold, 2023.
Image #4: Photographer Miao Jingyi, Fold, 2023.
Image #5: Photographer Miao Jingyi, Fold, 2023. - Patents
- Copyrights belong to Jingyi Miao, 2023.
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