The Oceanworks founding mission was to remove the tons of plastic currently polluting our oceans and repurpose that global resource by using it in new product development. Aly Khalifa, a co-founder of this leading ocean-plastic marketplace, scoured the planet for ocean plastic supply chain partners and greatly expanded the global pool of ocean-plastic-ready manufacturers by working closely with them to customize and test systems and machinery.
Designbox and the manufacturers, together with Oceanworks, developed a trustworthy group of suppliers, and successfully worked with ocean plastic materials to launch several products in the market. Working directly with consumer brands, Designbox helped Oceanworks source, design and manufacture verified ocean plastic material into finished products, replacing virgin plastic with recycled and removing it from its path to the ocean.
Product design, engineering and development, material and manufacturer sourcing, supply chain strategies:
- Verification & Monitoring – developing one of the first draft standards for ocean plastic verification
Aly Khalifa led a verification program and developed one of the earliest draft standards on ocean plastic verification, leading to his participation on the 3R standard. This standard enables monitoring material content and chain of custody from collection through final product, and provides brands the assurance their product is made as specified and ethically harvested and handled. - Customized ocean plastic product development
Designbox led the product design and elopement efforts, specifically: Feasibility, Design, Material Selection, Engineering, Supply Chain Development, Production Support. - Storytelling sustainability with marketing and communication support
Throughout our direct involvement on projects, Designbox developed the brand strategy and developed Oceanworks brand assets and usage guidelines. We worked with the Oceanworks team to develop a branded program for customers to use to celebrate their use of Oceanworks Ocean Plastic. - Full Suite of Services
- Strategy, roadmap and feasibility consulting
- Product engineering and design for performance and circularity
- Qualification and support for nominated suppliers
- Full turn-key product development of new products
- Quality control management and reporting
- Communication and marketing support for product launch campaigns
Designbox Leads Oceanworks Product Innovation for Customers
Premium Zippers from Ocean Bound Waste
While working with key partners in Sri Lanka, we discovered that most colored ocean plastic PET was not making it into the textile supply chain. Knowing that most zippers are dyed black or brown, we instigated YKK to help incorporate this new opportunity into their product line.
A Tiny Button with a Big Impact
The relationship with Outerknown (an iconic Kelly Slater brand) developed by Oceanworks, led Designbox to working with the brand to develop ocean plastic into fashionable buttons for their most sustainable trousers. The buttons included molded-in material designation and the year and coordinates to signify where it was harvested in Haiti and their material composition to be circular-economy-ready.
The First Ocean Plastic Credit Card
Designbox, as a part of the Oceanworks team, worked directly with the visionaries at CPI to concept, engineer and overcome key technical challenges to manufacture the first credit card incorporating ocean plastic.
A Comprehensive Brand Package
Designbox directed and developed the initial start-up Oceanworks brand strategy, story and messaging, brand assets and usage guidelines. As is usually true with start-ups, the brand and messaging had to be created with a timeline of “ASAP,” and everything needed to be fluid and adaptable as the business plan evolved. In addition to the logo, business cards, website and brochure, Oceanworks also needed numerous information pieces developed with the Google Suite so that anyone on the team could create custom information in a cohesive branded way.
Designbox also developed a co-branding program for customers to use to celebrate their positive environmental impact and use of Oceanworks Ocean Plastic in their own marketing programs.
