Carton product design rules

Rule 001 — Apply glue to the incoming part’s contact feature

Requirement: Apply glue to the defined contact face on the piece you are about to install, normally its own fold-out flap. Bring that piece to the dry assembly and align it using the part edges and folds. Do not ask the builder to guess a glue location on a plain floor, wall, or roof.

Design check: The incoming cut pattern must contain the flap or a clearly defined bonding face. Generate the highlighted glue area from that same feature and show the correct side of the incoming piece by itself. Keep glue application and placement as two separate steps. Do not highlight the stationary part as the glue target.

Example: For the Dog House wall, coat the foot flaps on the loose wall, fold them, then stand the wall on the floor. For the roof, coat the flaps on the loose roof panel, then fold them down against the end walls.

Rule 002 — Start the 3D guide with an exploded view

Keep a short product overview above the 3D guide: material and thickness, part count, print-sheet count, and a picture of the assembled product. Make the exploded view the first entry in the 3D sequence, before the numbered assembly steps. It must show all parts and stay accessible from any step. Keep rotation available so the builder can identify each part.

Rule 003 — Use two structural joint types

Use a folded glue flap for permanent assembly and a folding T-tab cut into the panel for glue-free assembly. Keep loose keys and wedges out of the assembly kit. In the dry joint, provide clearance for the folded wings and leave room on the far side of the receiving slot to open them.

Rule 004 — Keep printed part identifiers with the cut piece

Place the part ID and name inside the material so they remain visible after the template is cut out. Keep the text clear of openings, cut edges, score lines, and orientation marks. Keep copy instructions aligned with the part ID.

Rule 005 — Start with the product guide

Open each product as a readable guide with its materials, part drawings, and written assembly steps. Launch the interactive 3D workspace from the guide and keep a direct link back. Carry the chosen board thickness between views. List the donor box, tools, templates, and any glue before the assembly steps.

Rule 006 — Check reused board before cutting

Give common packaging as examples of where to find board. Confirm the actual board construction and measured thickness against the kit. Use clean, dry, flat areas large enough for the templates, and test the joint on an offcut from the same box before cutting the full kit.

Rule 007 — Keep decoration clear of joints and openings

Offer decoration after assembly. Place stickers on accessible finished surfaces clear of openings and joints. Keep the printed sticker dimensions equal to the dimensions shown on the model. Give each artwork its own finishing workspace with colors and sticker surfaces suited to its geometry. Offer three project-specific looks that combine colors and placed stickers. Include their actual-size stickers in the project A4 set. Let builders edit the colors and stickers and print the edited design. Let builders edit nameplates in A4 and print the stickers in full color or as outlines for hand coloring, at the same cut size. Use packaging brands as material examples in preparation.

Start the Sticker set with an artwork look and show the shared sticker collection open by default in its own scrollable region. Keep artwork-look selection in Decorate, not in the A4 & materials sticker editor. Let builders add designs, select a sticker to remove it, and edit its text where the design supports text. Save the draft for printing and carry it into the actual-size print preview.

Rule 008 — Give each library item a mounting specification

Publish each reusable item with its own materials, part drawings, A4 templates, and fabrication steps. Give every connection a stable ID, an attachment type, and a local origin and orientation. Record the mating surface, footprint, cutouts, and required contact or clearance in millimeters. Use a separate connection for each attachment point when an item mounts in more than one place.

The item guide explains how to make the item. The host project owns the receiving geometry and installation steps. A window supplies the open frame and specifies its through-opening. The wall in the host project provides that opening and keeps the sightline clear.

Show the fabrication steps for each required library item in the host guide. Link to the item’s Studio in a new tab from the guide and from its host installation steps so builders can return to the same point in the host build. Mark those steps with an assembly icon and a separate-build label. Show the item’s thumbnail and name alongside its Studio link.

For a moving item, specify the hinge axis, direction and range of movement, required clearances, and any stop supplied by the host. Bond the fixed mounting surfaces and leave the moving parts free.

Rule 009 — Dimension screen drawings and A4 sheets with arrows

Show measurements in millimeters on dimension lines that point to the measured edges. Keep the arrows distinct from cut lines and score lines. Show key flap widths, depths, and fold lengths beside the features. In the hand-cut guide, place numbered marks at cuts and folds on each part drawing and pair them with short instructions. Reuse a number where the action repeats. Offer exact coordinates and edge lengths in a collapsed reference on screen only. Exclude that detailed reference from A4 print pages. Keep the 100 mm calibration ruler on actual-size A4 sheets.

Label the paper format separately from the finished artwork dimensions. Advertise a format only when every printable part fits that paper at 100% scale. Call out any backing or other oversized piece that is cut by hand. Put the actual-size warning and print action above the Studio sheet preview.

Rule 010 — Build collections from independently usable artworks

Give each build in a collection its own guide, Studio, and A4 templates. Record the finished footprints and use the same placement data for the overhead plan, written instructions, and combined 3D scene. Keep the assembled pieces movable unless a connection is needed for stability. Offer coordinated looks while keeping each build’s signs editable.

Rule 011 — Sell complete artworks and give access to everything inside

An artwork is a complete, independently usable build with enough substance to display or use on its own. An assembly part is a basic object made to fit into a host artwork. Publish its fabrication guide and Studio as part of the host’s build. List complete artworks and artwork sets as purchase options. Keep shared scenery with its set and small technique exercises in the reference material.

Access to an artwork includes every required assembly part, its guides, 3D steps, and templates. Access to a set includes every artwork, shared scenery, and their assembly parts. Show each purchased artwork or set in My Artwork. Keep each Studio focused on the build it opened for. Open included builds from their guide or installation step in a separate Studio tab.

Rule 012 — Separate styled display ideas from the build plans

Base styled display images on the artwork’s actual pieces, layout, and decoration palette. Label generated images as styling concepts. In Decorate, identify which pieces use the cardboard plans and list optional accessories separately. Explain where to place optional details such as craft snow, battery LEDs, and garlands while keeping openings and moving parts clear.

Give each artwork with a styled preview gallery at least three distinct scenes. Link each scene to its matching preset when one is available. Allow the gallery to grow as more scenes are added.

For each complete artwork or set, provide three display ideas in home settings. Preserve the finished proportions and use familiar objects on the same surface to communicate scale. Show the measured outer width, depth, and height alongside the scene so builders can check the available space.

Rule 013 — Offer selected assembly parts as free Studio projects

Give selected parts a public article with preparation, fabrication, and mounting instructions. Mark these articles FREE in the guide list and on the article. Open the part’s Studio and A4 templates directly from the article. Use the same part geometry and connection specification when the part is built on its own or used in a larger artwork.

Rule 014 — Print acquired artwork directly from Studio

Artwork access opens Studio and its A4 & materials workspace. Let the builder open the actual-size A4 pages and print there. Do not offer or generate bulk ZIP archives as part of artwork access. Keep Studio and its A4 pages behind the same artwork ownership checks, including all required assembly parts.

Rule 015 — Show the complete contents before acquisition

On an artwork’s store page and its article offer, list the digital pattern pieces and included assembly parts with their quantities. For a set, name and show every included artwork and shared scenery project. Derive these lists from the same build definitions used by Studio. Clearly distinguish digital templates from physical materials and optional display accessories. End detail articles with links to related artworks in the store.