CENTAURI

Packaging

AmeriStar Student Packaging Awards 2020 First Place Winner

Centauri is an innovative packaging solution that addresses sustainability and safety concerns identified in current packaging for N95 respirators. Designed by myself and John Dizon, Centauri provides an out-of-this-world user experience and brand positioning unlike anything seen before. On this team, I focused on the brand strategy and label design.

The Problem

Healthcare professionals are some of the most vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet the masks they need aren’t designed to address the problems unique to this situation. Coronavirus can survive up to 2 days on the plastic packaging most masks use, making cross-contamination a high risk. With the shortage of N-95 respirators during the pandemic, many healthcare professionals are reusing their masks, storing them in plastic containers, and extending periods of potential cross-contamination as a result.

THE SOLUTION

Make an N-95 respirator designed to be safely and easily reused. Instead of using packaging materials that make it easy for coronavirus to survive, Centauri has cellulose-based package infused with silver nanoparticles—a virucidal agent — that doubles as a storage unit with Coronavirus-cleaning properties. Not only does this protect healthcare professionals from cross-contamination, proper use of the case also extends the life of a N-95 respirator for up to two weeks. Sustainably sourced from sugar-cane, the case’s protective molded fiber addresses the N-95 respirator shortage while being mindful of lowering the amount of waste it produces as a disposable product.

THE BRAND

Inspired by space exploration equipment, Centauri’s brand is sleek, geometric, and showcases innovation and technology as a tool to fight illness. Centauri derives its name from the constellation of the centaur, a mythical creature gifted with expansive knowledge of medicine in Greek mythology.