Four Product Design students shortlisted for the Young Designers Pro Carton Awards 2020
Considered one of the best packaging design competitions for young talent in Europe, the Young Designers Pro Carton Awards recognise innovative, sustainable designs. Four BA (Hons) Product Design students have been shortlisted at the awards for their impressive ideas.
The Young Designers Pro Carton Awards champion sustainability, with students asked to create their designs using cartonboard. Cartonboard is a multi-layered fibre derived from wood that is versatile, durable and eco-friendly. There are five categories in the awards which include ‘Food & Drink’, ‘Save the planet’ and the ‘Newcomers’ Award.
This year’s shortlists were chosen by a jury consisting of designers, brand owners, retailers and manufacturers. Each winner will receive a visit to the RdM in Italy as well as practical training at the international carton converter Artigrafiche Reggiane.
Looking to promote more conscious decision buying, student Gurjit Choda designed plastic-free packaging for Tic Tac mints. Gurjit’s packaging maintained the colour and vibrancy of the classic product, whilst eliminating single-use plastic. Whilst the opaque, recyclable packaging obscures the Tic Tacs, the recognisable branding ensures that viewing the mints isn’t essential. Gurjit explained that her new design could, ‘help reduce pester power from kids by allowing parents to make more mindful purchasing decisions, instead of impulse buying because of children being distracted by what’s inside”.
Jannah’s ‘Kellogg’s Tessellation’ design examines cereal packaging and explores how to make the delivery of the boxes more carbon neutral. “With a simple fold out mechanism to help pouring and portion control, the triangle shaped design will remove the air space at the top of the cereal bag whilst keeping the contents secure.” Jannah found that using her design would positively impact the transfer of goods as “a regular shipment box carries eight cereal boxes, this design can carry 14.” The sustainable packaging maintains customer trust while reducing the carbon footprint involved in transportation.
With a need to reduce plastic in the packaging industry, Chloe De La Fontaine’s project on Bolt vitamins looks to eliminate the plastic bottles that which most vitamins are usually sold in. Drawing inspiration from the product name, Chloe has designed the packaging to reflect a lightning bolt, which in turn, also 'symbolises natural energy, which is what the vitamins provide.’
By adding a fun twist on something that is usually plain and functional, Chloe was able to cleverly redefine what packaging for this product could be in the future. When asked about her experience in entering the competition, Chloe says, “I really enjoyed working on this competition, it made me really understand how much plastic is actually being used in the packaging industry and also cool and fun new ways to replace plastic.”
The shortlist will be made available on the Pro Carton website for public voting in August. It is an amazing result to have four Ravensbourne students shortlisted for the Young Designers Pro Carton Awards 2020 and we wish the students involved the best of luck for the voting stage!