Four young designers along with their tutors were honoured at the Pro Carton Young Designers Award 2018 at the ECMA Congress Award Gala in Riga, Latvia. With more than 400 entries and the participation of 50 design schools across 21 countries, the awards are celebrated for their status in European design education. Celebrating sustainability in design, 10 finalists were invited to attend the gala ceremony, along with their lecturers, with four winners chosen for creating the next generation of innovative and sustainable packaging concepts.
Young designers Desiré Persson, Alva Nyström and Erika Svensson from Sweden won the award for Creative Cartonboard Packaging: Food & Drink for their innovative Björkö Duo Bag, designed for the packaging of 33cl premium vodka bottles. Recognised by the jury as a ‘never seen before’ concept, it was described as a ‘real feat of carton structural engineering that, if commercialised, would be one of the most impactful packaging solutions found instore’.
Demonstrating an awareness for the environment and sustainability and returning to collect her second Pro Carton Young Designer Award, Marie Falk also from Sweden scooped the Creative Cartonboard Packaging All – excluding Food & Drink for her innovative packaging solution entitled ‘Save the Trip’. Helping to amuse and nourish young passengers, the ‘Save the Trip’ concept combined healthy snacks with games and crosswords to make long car journeys more entertaining. Made entirely from cartonboard, it is also easily flattened and recycled.
Pro Carton’s Save the Planet accolade was presented to Alexander Böhringer from Austria for his SD Burst innovative package design for standardized SD Cards. Keeping packaging to a minimum, the design is ideal for online commerce and features perforated lines to give the user ease of access to the product. The jury thought it was a ‘well thought-through idea that had been carefully constructed’.
The final award recognises true creativity in design in the Creative Cartonboard Idea category. Christina Leurer also from Austria was awarded for her Updo hair accessory. Inspired by Asian culture, the accessory enables users to easily recreate hairstyles by fixing the hairclip with a wooden stick without the presence of plastic and is available in a variety of modern designs.
As part of their prize, all four of the Young Designer Award winners win trips to visit the Metsä Board Mill in Finland followed by practical training with the international carton producer, Mayr-Melnhof Packaging in Austria.
