Hasta La Ideas

Design company Burgopak was given an unusual brief for its latest project: it was asked to create packaging that channelled Yves Saint Laurent and NASA for new “artisan electronic device”, Lapka.

For those of you (like us) unfamiliar with artisan electronics, Lapka is a device made up of four small sensors that measure radiation, electromagnetic pollution and humidity levels in the environment. There’s also a sensor that measures the amount of synthetic fertiliser used in the making of whatever fruit or veg its inserted into, so you can test if that squash really is organic.

The sensors are designed to be plugged into a smartphone and used with an accompanying app that collates and analyses results.

In its promotional video (below), Lapka claims the product allows consumers to capture, play with and share “the tender and invisible secrets that shape our world”. We’re not exactly sure what this means, or whether we really want to know exactly what’s lurking in the atmosphere, but the beautiful packaging and product design has us tempted.

Both the brand and the product were designed in-house – as creative director Vadik Marmeladov explains, the aim was to create a device that looked simple and stylish. “We wanted to build a new kind of scientific product,” he says. The name Lapka refers to the Polish word for paw, which Marmeladov says is a reference to a lucky rabbit’s paw, or “a talisman that will protect you.”

Lapka is aimed at health and style-conscious consumers and Burgopak has created some lovely eco-friendly packaging to match it. “Aesthetically, the product – was intended “to mix Yves Saint Laurent and NASA together.” To us that translated simply as “beautiful science”. The products themselves are luxury tools that convey their connection with nature, [and] the packaging, we felt, should do the same,” the team explains.

Burgopak didn’t want Lapka to look or feel like an Apple product, so it used brown kraft board and minimal black sans type. The packaging fits on one sheet of 300gsm recycled board to minimise material costs and wastage and as the product is made up of four parts that are also sold individually, it’s capable of accommodating one or all four sensors.

The full device costs $220 – but we’re sure its sleek design will be enough to convince some gadget enthusiasts that it’s a must-have product.

Out now, the May 2013 issue of Creative Review is our biggest ever. Features over 100 pages of the year’s best work in the Creative Review Annual 2013 (in association with iStockphoto), plus profiles on Morag Myerscough, Part of a Bigger Plan and Human After All as well as analysis, comment, reviews and opinion

You can buy Creative Review direct from us here. Better yet, subscribe, save money and have CR delivered direct to your door every month. If you subscribe before May 3, you will get the Annual issue thrown in for free. The offer also applies to anyone renewing their subscription. Details here

CR for the iPad

Read in-depth features and analysis plus exclusive iPad-only content in the Creative Review iPad App. Longer, more in-depth features than we run on the blog, portfolios of great, full-screen images and hi-res video. If the blog is about news, comment and debate, the iPad is about inspiration, viewing and reading. As well as providing exclusive, iPad-only content, the app will also update with new content throughout each month