Synchro — AI Assistant for Package Design
Project Type
Academy Project
(Google Sponsored Studio)
Year
2025
Role
Interaction Designer and
Prototyper
Overview
Synchro is your AI co-pilot for package design, helping you go from idea to final design in the shortest time possible.
The Problem
The Google packaging design team is not currently using any AI in their workflow. How can we integrate AI into package design workflow?
Design
We designed and prototyped a packaging design platform by connecting APIs from different tools. It supports research, design, and validation. In testing, the platform improved work efficiency by more than 10 times.
01 Research with Synchro
Tell Synchro what to research, and it will search for all related content and organize it into a single file
02 Brainstorming
Pick your style, and Synchro will generate plenty of matching ideas.
Transform static ideas into 360° videos
03 Make Any Adjustment
Get real-time feedback during sketching or designing, with instant quick command suggestions.
Some quick commands examples: turn sketches into packaging mockup, generate structural diagrams, etc.
Research
What is the traditional workflow of AI packaging in Google?
Google packaging team workflow is relatively complex, but it can be simplified to three parts
Research
Review existing and competitor packaging
Explore materials and manufacturing capabilities
Define packaging requirements
Design
Finalize structure design and materials
Build prototypes and align with manufacturers
Run reliability tests
Validate
Finalize design and release production files
Verify the manufacturing process
Review final mass production packaging
How might we use AI to support the packaging design team?
Insights
We started a 6-week AI software experiment, testing over 40 tools. By useing Google’s products in the process to find the fastest workflow with the best output quality. We found the following problems with these tools:
Most tools made specifically for package design produce very plain, generic results and cannot accurately create what the user wants.
Some powerful image generation tools require training your own model, which takes a lot of time and effort.
There is no single software that can handle the entire workflow from start to finish, so completing a full project requires switching between multiple tools.
My Takeaways
AI has evolved dramatically in just three years, yet our testing in April 2025 showed that many possibilities were still unexplored. I realized that as designers, our role is not just to adapt to new technologies, but to actively explore, develop, and leverage AI tools to help people work more efficiently, make more accurate decisions, and create better experiences.