Little Box, Big Moments

“Lite” came up a lot during the project, and it didn’t always mean the same thing. It started with weight: a smaller, lighter box than the original OmieBox. But the word kept pulling us toward the other kind of light, and that shaped the CMF. We gave the box a translucent outer shell and bright, opaque inners, so the color sits inside and light passes through to reach it. It gives the box a depth that solid color can’t, and it makes the object feel lighter than it is. Lite was the brief. Light was what we found in it.

Before we drew anything, we spent time with parents and kids to understand how school lunches really get packed, carried and eaten. One thing came up again and again: parents wanted to pack a variety of fresh fruit, and not only for nutrition. Berries, grapes and other bright fruit were how they made a lunch look colourful and inviting. That shaped the layout. The main section is sized for a healthy sandwich, the tubs and dividers give the fruit somewhere to go, and the Treasure Pocket was designed with a cookie or a little treat in mind. A balanced meal for the tummy and the eyes. Every piece can be used or left out depending on what’s for lunch, so parents can set the box up around the food they’re packing, and kids get a box they can open, eat from and close again on their own.

We started with sketches, working through ideas for what a lighter OmieBox could be. The strongest ones were pulled together into a single direction and refined on paper, and from there we moved quickly into 3D prints. We wanted physical models early because so much of this product is sensory. The sound and feel of a clip closing, the resistance in a hinge, the small moment of opening the Treasure Pocket. Those are the details that make a lunchbox something a kid looks forward to opening, and you can’t judge them on a screen. Getting prints in front of Omie’s team meant we could all pick them up, open and close them, and tune those moments until they felt right.

How do you pack love? That was the question behind the Treasure Pocket™. It sits in the middle of the lid, just big enough for a treat, a sticker or a handwritten note, and it works like a little message from home. In a world where kids are surrounded by screens, there’s something special about a folded note in a parent’s handwriting, a reminder in the middle of the school day of how much they mean to someone. The practical side still mattered. It had to stay shut in a school bag but open easily for small hands without help, and inside, we made sure there was room for a decent-sized cookie.

A strap runs across the top of the lid and can be put on or taken off quickly. On the practical side, it holds the extras: a fork, a napkin, a granola bar. The small things travel with the lunch instead of ending up loose at the bottom of a school bag. But it was always meant to be playful too. In a contrasting colour, it gives the closed box a bright band that’s easy to spot, and it’s something kids can’t help touching, pulling and fiddling with. Like the clips and the Treasure Pocket, it’s one more small moment of feel built into the box.

The original OmieBox is known for hot lunches, with a built-in thermos that keeps food warm until lunchtime. OmieBox Lite gave Omie the other half of the year. It’s built for cold lunches and summer days, keeping fresh food fresh and fruit looking as bright at noon as it did when it was packed. The ice pack sits in its own spot underneath the inner tray. It’s frozen flat, slots in below the tray and keeps the whole lunch cool until it’s time to eat. Getting to it is simple: lift the tray out of the shell and the ice pack is right there, ready to go back in the freezer.