Puffs Tissues: Back to School Box Designs 2025

During my co-op at Procter & Gamble, I designed Puffs tissue box collections for the 2025 back-to-school season. After rounds of research, presentation to leadership, and consumer testing, my final design collection was selected and sold into major national retailers such as Walmart, Target, and Kroger.

Back-to-school is a key season for spikes in tissue purchases, and while Puffs box designs traditionally lean more minimal, this project was all about breathing life back into the boxes to delight the retailers, the “millennial mom,” and their young children.

My goal was to develop a range of on-trend collections, ultimately leading to a distinctive, winning tissue box collection for national retailers. Specifically, I kept in mind the rising anxiety levels amongst young children and how their school supplies ought to be lighthearted and joyful.

The Business Challenge

I began by researching trends for back to school 2025 across categories such as color, print and pattern, fashion, product design, and home design. This research turned into 15 different trending aesthetic spaces, and from there I created 15 unique mood boards in order for the team to narrow to an aesthetic direction.

Trends Research

Final 4 Trend Spaces

Pattern Purchasing

Keeping the chosen trend spaces in mind, I looked through pattern libraries of 4 different print and pattern vendors and purchased 8 patterns total.

Taking elements from the purchased patterns as well as designing elements myself, I began to create design collections based around the 4 trend spaces. Initially, I was designing after rectangular boxes, but the team later pivoted to the cube boxes.

Iteration

3 Key Design Techniques

1. Creatively using purchased patterns

2. Custom Illustration

3. Custom Hand Lettering

Final 5 Collections that Went Into Testing

After 3 different rounds of review and presentation to leadership, 5 collections with 5 designs each were chosen for consumer testing.

Bright Adventure

Almost neons, blended bright colors
Adventurous and “science” aspects
Class pet/school of fish concept
“From outer space to under the sea and anywhere in between”

2. Moments of Joy

Encouraging affirmations
Playful color palette
Silly, goofy characters
Slight novelty/randomness for added fun
“Fidget toy” school supply inspiration

3. Colorful Woodland

More traditional woodland aesthetic
Watercolor, brush strokes
Sweet and friendly

4. Joyful Woodland

A new space that combines 2 styles
Colors more vibrant than more subtle woodland palette
Feels more like a modern take on traditional woodland

5. Color Blocking

Simplicity in shape but excitement in color
More literal school theme
Colored pencils and smiley face stickers

The selected designs are from the “Moments of Joy” trend space. The only edit made before printing was changing the blue to green on the “spread joy” box for a more cohesive collection.