Pellow & Co.

Overview

Pellow & Co. is a gift shop that wraps almost everything it sells. Its bags came from a catalogue: glossy, bulky, and shipped already glued open, so a season’s stock filled half the stockroom and a third of it arrived bent.

The shop wanted a bag worth keeping that would also arrive in one piece.

Approach

I worked from the fold first. The bag is a single sheet with scored gussets, so it ships flat and opens with one push. The three sizes nest inside each other and share one shipping box, which also fits the shop’s shelves. I tested the fold with the shop staff on a busy Saturday: a bag had to open, fill, and close with one hand while the other held the gift.

The face of the bag is plain pink and uncoated, so it takes a handwritten name tag. All the pattern lives on the gussets and the inside: a teal field of four-point stars that only shows when the bag opens or turns. It feels like a gift before anything is inside it.

Two spot colours do all the work, pink and teal, and the rope handle is dyed to match the teal. A small panel on one gusset stays blank for a rubber stamp, so a seasonal edition needs a stamp, not a new print run.

Result

Gift bags that ship flat in one box size. The stockroom has its shelf back, damaged stock has all but stopped, and the shop now sells the empty bags at the till. Regulars bring them back to be refilled at Christmas.