There are a number of factors we considered when deciding on the design for our lunchbox. Firstly, and it sounds ridiculous to say, the most important thing was that it looked like a lunchbox.

Depending on when and where you grew up in the world that can be quite a divisive subject.

Visually speaking something happens when you strip away the graphics and branding off a ‘normal’ children’s lunchbox and scale it up to 8 meters cubed. Unless you feature all the intricacies of the molded clips, hinges and handle it becomes a generic case - a suitcase or briefcase perhaps.

Despite its scale the thing we created had to appear to be molded plastic – otherwise the communication wouldn’t work.

Achieving all the practical specifications after that was an exercise in maintaining the integrity of the look. Every aspect such as transportation issues – it had to be compartmentalized into several parts; housing a real working kitchen – it needed ventilation and fire escapes; the transformation from lunchbox to restaurant – it had to appear transformable by ordinary McDonalds staff for an accompanying film shoot. All these things threatened to compromise the overall visual impact of the final piece.

Since people weren’t coming to us, we went to them. What better way to draw attention to a brand new lunch menu, than with an oversized, brightly coloured lunch box. There was no missing it. In fact, we ended up with the world's biggest ever lunch box and toured it around Australia’s most popular and iconic lunch spots. And it wasn’t just any lunch box. When it opened, it transformed into a fully functioning McDonalds restaurant, complete with commercial kitchen that was capable of serving over 1,000 lunches an hour. The surrounding footprint was also transformed with custom seating and fresh greenery & produce, converting the usually hectic and dull area into a lunchtime oasis. 1 in 5 Australians (or just over 4 million people) tried the new menu in just 5 weeks, putting McDonald’s firmly back on Australia’s lunch menu.