Cardboard was never originally designed as a box. Prior to the 1890s it was a luxury item used to provide structure to fashion, such as the top hat, collars and cuffs. Oh, and protect high end items. It was flexible, strong and could be formed. Cardboard was even used in baseball players helmets before the 1920s.
When cardboard's production was automated in the 1890s, in New York, it only took 20 years to replace crates, tins, wicker baskets and barrels globally. It became synonymous with packaging (and took away from the amazing medium it is).
Once it was commoditized, it was cheapened to its lowest point, lessening it.
The Cardboard Mill is here to celebrate its amazing strength and form attributes and re-educate people regarding the medium and how it can be used.
The Cardboard Mill celebrates cardboard in all its amazing unpretentious attributes: natural, strong, printable, recyclable; biodegradable. We’ll take it to the moon.
