David Yapps’ ‘FurMix’ entry was a winner in the Package Vanity category as well as the overall winner
Three UK design students from the same university have beaten competitors from all over the world to scoop the top prizes in the 2005 Amcor Flexibles Packaging Design Prize Competition. The winning students from London South Bank University (LSBU) in the UK were David Yapp, who was the overall winner of the competition and receives €3000 in prize money, and two runners-up Andrew Pearce and Vincent Patau, who each receive €1000.
Amcor Flexibles’ Group communications manager and competition organiser, Alison Hilyer-Jones, says it was an extremely successful competition and the number and standard of designs received this year were beyond the company’s expectations.
“We received more entries than in any of our previous competitions and they came from 16 countries across four continents,” says Hilyer-Jones. “We were very impressed by the effort and creativity that went into all of the designs but particularly with the standard of entries from LSBU. It is a remarkable achievement for the same university to claim all three winners.”
Open to design students throughout the world, Amcor Flexibles’ Packaging Design Prize competition aims to promote new ideas and creativity in flexible packaging design. Entries were judged on how well they met the design brief, their suitability for manufacture and filling, their ability to both enhance sales appeal and market the product, their creativity and supporting information.
The competition was judged by senior Amcor Flexibles personnel from all over Europe.
For the 2005 competition, Amcor Flexibles developed three design challenges, each focussing on a different market sector served by the company. The three briefs, named Hunger, Vanity and Taboo, involved designing a flexible packaging product suitable for the easy consumption of slices of meat, cheese or fish; hair colourant packaging which is easy to use in the home; and a flexible pouch suitable for tobacco with a new recloseable system.
Package Vanity category and overall competition winner, David Yapps’ ‘FurMix’ entry was described by the judges as addressing the challenge of bringing convenience and fun to what is normally a seriously intricate and messy process.
“Shelf appeal, detachable strips and colours which resemble fur from wild animals have all been combined to yield a winning cocktail. In terms of innovation, FurMix represents a step change in both packaging and process,” said the judges.
Amcor Flexibles awarded two equal runners up prizes. One went to Andrew Pearce whose ‘I’m Cheesy’ design came first in the Package Hunger category, and the other went to Vincent Patau, the winner of the Package Taboo category.
Commenting on the ‘I’m Cheesy’ design the judges said: “This pack design enhances sales appeal and on-shelf differentiation. It facilitates the easy and clean consumption of individual slices of cheese, whilst maintaining the quality of the remaining slices. The pack ensures the brand image is retained until all the cheese slices have been used. This is a packaging concept that opens doors for further technological developments.”
Of Patau’s design the jury said: “Easydose is a clever design to portion tobacco or other granular, powdered or particulate products. The entry was well presented in the Amcor Flexibles style and included an excellent product mock-up.”
