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About FIT
Located at the heart of New York City, FIT – Fashion Institute of Technology – is a SUNY public institution and a hub of education in design, fashion, business, and technology. As the only BFA program of its kind in the United States, FIT’s Packaging Design program is a leader in branding education by following best industry practices, promoting strategic thinking, creativity, and sustainability, and concentrating on innovation in the consumer product sector. Graduating students are uniquely prepared to enter the global brand and packaging design arena, having completed an intellectually rigorous, business+design-focused, and technically advanced program.
About Supa Trio
In the Spring semester of our Junior year, the Supa Trio team was formed in the course PK343: Explorations in 3D to participate in the 2021 Student Design Challenge, advised by Adjunct Assistant Professor Adam Straus and Professor Sandra Krasovec. Initially, our team worked together on researching and brainstorming, then eventually specialized into our team roles: Ankita as our Packaging Developer, Claudia as our Presentation Designer, and Jessica as our Graphic Designer. For the entire project, we worked remotely, navigating the adjustments of online collaboration. Differing time zones and the nuance of virtual meetings did not dampen our team’s passion and determination to find the right social cause and design solution.
About Super Kit
With the flexibility of choosing an organization in the 2021 Student Design Challenge, our team considered current social issues and areas of personal interest. As we are all part of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, we turned to that bond as inspiration.
The burgeoning hate towards the AAPI community during the peak of the pandemic in 2020 was the key catalyst towards the creation of an activity kit, called Super Kit—we set out to make a real difference in equipping children and their guardians to boldly talk about this issue. Curated for Hate Is A Virus, a non-profit organization that educates and amplifies the AAPI community, the Super Kit primarily focuses on the impact on younger children and helps them learn about themselves, their heritage and an opportunity to voice their thoughts on the issue. The kit also serves as an aid to parents on navigating different ways of initiating the difficult conversation of racism and identity with their children.
We chose the superhero theme as our core concept because it extends the current voice of Hate Is A Virus, which is bold and expressive, as well as resonates with our young audience. Drawing inspiration from the popularity of Superhero stories we tailored Super Kit’s graphics to the comic-book style. Designing the structure, we concluded that a shield was the perfect symbol for empowerment and protection. While our structural development went through many variations, we met our goals of constructing a shippable box, providing educational material and transforming into a wearable shield.
Thank you to the Paperboard Packaging Council and American Forest and Paper Association for putting on the Paperboard Packaging Alliance’s 2021 Student Design Challenge. We are grateful to be award recipients and share our passions and hard work.
#HateIsAVirus Super Kit Unboxing
