Erin Franczyk and Rob Grennan wanted to reinvent the way kids ate lunch. They wanted to make lunchtime easier, more inspiring and fun for kids and parents alike. They knew the new lunchboxes had to be sustainable and have a long product life, unlike the disposable lunch bags and containers that have found their way into the school backpack. From the beginning Erin and Rob decided to be as transparent as possible about their decisions as a company: how they would produce, ship and get their product to the market – Goodbyn was born.
Goodbyn researched kids’ eating habits so that the concept behind their lunchboxes could be brought to life. They put together a team of people who had a unique background in research-driven, modern product design as well as an expertise and design aesthetic that meshed with Erin and Rob’s beliefs. This team of talented people enabled Goodbyn to to make lunchtime smarter and more inspiring.
While they started small and have only been in business since 2008 they are now selling their smarter lunchboxes in over 25 countries. Goodbyn was originally an American brand made in the USA, but as the company continues to devote itself to affordable sustainable solutions it decided to move its manufacturing overseas. They are working with well established factories that maintain high-safety standards that are working towards sustainable practices. Goodbyn imports only the forecasted amounts that they will sell domestically in the USA – they ship on demand amounts directly to their distributors around the world from their factories – thereby actually lessening the carbon footprint.
Erin’s deep involvement in the disciplines of design research and visual design gave Goodbyn the product and consumer focused design principals that have helped it suceed. Her fluid understanding of human factors and technology provided her an unrivaled sense of what makes a product succeed and fail in today’s hyper-aware consumer markets. As a mother of three children, she has personally experienced the challenges of daily school lunch preparation and been frustrated by the inadequacies of the current products on the market. She also benefits from having her own “in-house” product testing team.
Rob’s history as a multi-disciplined designer of print, exhibit, wayfinding systems, interactive interfaces, coupled with his extensive experience with product research brought many vital skills to the beginnings of the Goodbyn design process. His broad understanding of visual systems and marketing channels provided Goodbyn an integral viewpoint on consumer markets. His ability to implement large-scale, multi-phase projects—with teams of graphic designers, product designers, architects and clients—gave him a bird’s eye perspective of every detail, from supply chains to product launches.…