The winners of the annual Pro Carton Young Designers Award 2020 were announced during the first Carton E-vent with award ceremony on 7 October. The virtual event was organised by Pro Carton, the European Association of Cartonboard and Folding Carton Industries, and the European Carton Makers Association (ECMA).
Despite the global corona virus pandemic, 2020 is another record year, with more than 550 cartonboard packaging designs from 25 countries across Europe. The awards were presented in four categories: "Save the Planet", "Creative Cartonboard Packaging for Food & Drink", "Creative Cartonboard Packaging for All Other Products", and "Creative Cartonboard Ideas". In addition, there was a Newcomer Award for a university that had not yet won.
And the award winners are ...
The "Save the Planet" award went to Max Gugenhan from Austria. His cardboard padded inserts were developed to reduce the plastic waste generated when sending small products and delicate items such as electronic devices. The judges were impressed by his innovative design, as the 90° rotated pads create an interweaving of materials that provides excellent spring action and perfect support, thus protecting the contents of the parcel.
Another student from Austria, Lorenz Keiblinger, won the award in the category "Creative Cartonboard Packaging for All Other Products" with his ZIG ZAG ZIG entry. This unusual packaging for knives is easy to open, allows an excellent view of the product and, unlike most packaging for cutting tools, does not require plastic. The packaging creates stability through the knife itself by wrapping a strip of cardboard around the knife, while also protecting the sharp cutting edge by completely enclosing it.
The winning entry by Max Gugenhan - cardboard padded inserts
The winning entry by Lorenz Keiblinger - ZIG ZAG ZIG
The "Creative Cartonboard Ideas" award was won by Nora Karl, Mirjam Bauer and Maureen Seel from Germany with Fulfil - a tampon packaging designed to help protect the oceans worldwide. Tampons should not be flushed down the toilet as they can clog pipes and pollute the oceans. With this creative design, there is a neatly folded disposal box for each tampon - a hygienic and environmentally friendly way to dispose of the product.
The "Creative Cartonboard Packaging Food and Drink" award went to the contribution of Gabriela Buțincu from Romania, namely her user-friendly flour packaging. The judges found that "this is a perfect example of how a cartonboard can fulfil various functions without requiring special knowledge or additional tools from the user". The judges were particularly impressed by the functionality of the packaging, as an innovative flour sieve is directly integrated.
The winning entry by Nora Karl - Fulfil
The winning entry from Buțincu Gabriela - The user-friendly flour box
The winning young designers can look forward - and this is part of their prize - to a trip to Italy, with a visit to the Reno de Medici (RdM) cardboard factory and Artigrafiche Reggiane & Lai, a leading Italian cardboard processor.
And finally, this year's Newcomer Award, which goes to a university that has not yet had a winner, went to Yana Malakhovskaya from Samara State Technical University in Russia. Her contribution "Avis" presents sustainable packaging for nuts and snacks for both children and adults. The judges were particularly impressed by the creative design, inspired by opening and closing a bird's beak. The cardboard packaging has an innovative opening mechanism - by pressing the edge of the higher side, the "beak" opens so that the desired number of nuts can be poured out and the package can then be closed again.
The winning entry by Yana Malakhovskaya - Avis
Tony Hitchin, General Manager of Pro Carton said: "We are delighted with the number of entries for this year's Young Designers Award; it's just great to see how proactive the students were during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. The number of high quality entries we received was truly amazing, demonstrating the creativity of the younger generation and the commitment of many students to a better future with sustainable packaging".
"The continuous growth of the awards is of course always a welcome fact, but a 20% increase in entries compared to last year in these unpredictable times is truly remarkable. We would like to thank all those who participated in further successful award campaigns and supported us in our objective of promoting the use of carton packaging, as carton plays a crucial role in motivating major brands to support a true recycling economy".
