Communication Design for Social Innovation in Packaging Supply-Chain

This paper presents the case study of an applied research project called “Safety in the family” (Politecnico di Milano), which investigated the potential of packaging as a non-conventional medium for social communication campaigns; in particular, it focused on design experimentations with visual languages, styles and rhetoric, aiming at conveying awareness-raising messages on home safety, through corrugated cardboard pizza boxes. The research project was developed as a participative arena: packaging design represented a shared “platform” through which a preferential, design-mediated interaction was developed for the purposes of participatory innovation, with active contributions by all the stakeholders. From a theoretical point of view, this paper outlines how Design, and particularly Communication Design, may effectively support a process of participatory innovation in the packaging supply chain; moreover, it confirms social objectives as a significant opportunity for innovation in the packaging industry, allowing renewal of the paper and cardboard products identity and perceived quality.