The 6 Best Creative Uses of Spare Cardboard

I’m going to apologize in advance for the Buzzfeed-esque article. But let’s face it—we all like to read lists. Here are the six most creative things I’ve seen people do with spare cardboard:

1. Turn it into a company logo

Artist Mark Langan creates works of art out of nothing more than corrugated cardboard and some glue. The materials send a strong recycling message to its viewers, and have inspired several different businesses to request a custom made cardboard logo from him to show their commitment to sustainability. See the full gallery of Mark’s work here.

2. Create the world’s largest cardboard castle

In order to promote RecycleMania in 2012, BYU’s recycling coordinator came up with the idea to break the world record for world’s largest cardboard castle. In an event that had around 100 volunteers, a live band, and games, over 700 boxes were assembled into the complex monument you see above. The boxes from the event were saved for future castle building events, which has become a tradition at BYU. I actually went to this event this last year, as it happened at my Alma Mater, and I have to say, the shear size of the castle is pretty impressive. Read the full story at BYU’s website here.

3. Make miniature movie sets.

As a result of working on a short film, artist Daniel Agdag decided to start creating a series of sculptures titled “Sets for a film I’ll never make” out of nothing more than cardboard and glue. He calls his process something akin to “sketching with cardboard.” Even though that description would make you think that the artworks are quickly hewn together, the level of detail presented here is mind-boggling. If you want to see Daniel Agdag’s full gallery of cardboard sets (and I recommend you do, as the meticulous detail can’t fully be appreciated from just one image), click here.

 4. Make near photo-realistic cityscapes—with spray paint.

Evol is a Berlin based street artist who specializes in creating mini cityscapes on unlikely surface. The work you see above was created with stencils (yes, stencils) and spray paint on cardboard. Evol uses natural elements like dirt, tears, and tape on the cardboard to breathe extra realism and life into the work. “Clean surfaces don’t speak to me,” he says. See Evol’s full gallery here.

5. Scare passerby with a giant cardboard man.

Peering over the citizens of Cordoba, Argentina, this box man is nearly 30 feet tall and weighs over 800 lbs. The installation was created by artist Pablo Curutchet and was installed in 2006. Now, is it just me, or does the way this statue silently watch everyone feel a little unsettling? Photo from DesignBoom.com.

6. Create an entire arcade and become an internet sensation.

We’ve written about Caine and his arcade once before. To briefly sum it up for those who may not have heard this story yet: Caine was a nine-year old boy who loves games, prizes and arcades. He had a lot of free time over the summer while his dad worked at a car parts shop, and decided it would be fun to create a full-blown arcade out of spare cardboard and string. He wasn’t having much luck getting any customers until a local filmmaker happened to stumble on this kid one day and decided to create a surprise flashmob. See the uplifting documentary short for this story here, and read the full blog post we wrote about him here.

If you would like to get creative with your spare cardboard, contact us today by filling out the form below. We can help businesses shrink their corrugated cardboard costs by 20%!