In the midst of his busy schedule completing his final college assignment, a creative idea came to Angger Diri Wiranatha's mind to make a product from cardboard. As a Product Design student at the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) Surabaya, he felt that he should not lose out because tuition was already quite expensive. Therefore, in order to make a profit, he began to realize his idea with three other colleagues in a proposal for a student creativity program (PKM) held by the government. Unexpectedly, the proposal succeeded in winning the hearts of the jury and received funding.
So, why does it have to be cardboard?
This stems from the principle held by Angger that "creative ideas do not only belong to artists. Everyone can have creative ideas. It arises from many ways and opportunities.” In one moment, Angger and his friend saw a lot of unused cardboard boxes. In fact, if you look deeper, cardboard that was previously considered junk can be made into various functional products and even have quite high value. In short, if used cardboard usually sells for hundreds or less than 10 thousand, when it is processed into a functional product the value can increase many times.
Angger together with Arief Susanto and his colleagues then founded Dus Duk Duk, a creative business that creates cardboard into various products with functional and artistic value, in 2013. As the name suggests, namely Dus Duk Duk which means "cardboard for sitting", Angger's first product was a chair. Through this chair, he wants to convince many people that cardboard can be transformed into a product that can withstand loads of up to hundreds of kilograms.
After successfully making a chair from cardboard, Angger was confused about marketing his product. Social media was finally chosen to introduce the product to the wider public. He works on it seriously so that he gets maximum results. Not long after, fans of Dus Duk Duk products began to arrive, especially from abroad.
In its development, Dus Duk Duk not only produces chairs. There are various decoration products and installations created by the creative workers involved. Most recently, Dus Duk Duk was involved in making decorations for the G20 Development Working Group Government (DWG) in Belitung.
According to Angger, every stage of product exploration involves concepts and ideas that consider function, efficiency, aesthetic effectiveness and happiness. He is committed to always bringing happiness in every work he produces.
After the name Dus Duk Duk became widely known, Angger and his team spread their wings by releasing the Totoys brand . This is a brand that specializes in selling disassembling toys made from eco-friendly and sustainable cardboard . Some are in the form of animals, transportation, cities, and so on. It is hoped that this puzzle concept can be an educational medium for children to become more familiar with certain shapes. In this way, children can become smarter and more creative.
Through Totoys, Angger also opens up opportunities to hold exhibitions and workshops about cardboard toys. It is hoped that this activity can help children not only be fixated on gadgets, but can also hone their creativity directly through cardboard toys.
Besides Totoys, Angger specifically also developed Packimpact. This is a design and production service for packaging. There are various types of packaging produced by Packimpact, ranging from food packaging, souvenirs, body care products, and many more.
Through Packimpact, Angger hopes to help MSMEs in the country to represent their products to make them look classier. Because strong branding can start from attractive packaging. Therefore, Packimpact also often shares tips for creating more attractive and unique packaging on their social media accounts.
Of the three business lines that Angger is running, according to him, this has quite big prospects because there are still not many players. Moreover, if people become more educated about the benefits of this cardboard product, opportunities to increase their business will be wide open.