For the 15th year in a row, the Swedish edition of PIDA - Packaging Impact Design Award, was held in Stockholm, and this year, sustainability and recycling were in focus. The students presented creative and fun ideas on how to package clothes, beauty products and confectionery in a more environmentally friendly way. And the design that had the best concept according to the jury, was Bois Underwear, made by students from Nackademin.
"It feels great! We wanted to do something different but didn’t know if we took the concept to far. I think we won because we stuck out. We didn’t go for a Scandinavian minimalist design, instead we went all in with colour and shape," says Natasha Bosnjak who together with her classmates Alicia Lundgren and Christian Koch won the Gold award of PIDA Sweden 2019. Their design Bois is now qualified for the European final in Monaco this fall, at the Luxe Pack - the world's largest luxury packaging fair.
High quality all around
This year’s brief was "Bring the future" and the students’ challenge was to develop a sustainable packaging concept for the year 2030. This year, the jury looked at the innovation, sustainability, user-friendliness, concept and communication of the contributions. Bois received high marks on all points and the students were praised for their creativity, the strong communication and sense of humour. According to the jury’s chairman Isabelle Dahlborg Lidström, the Swedish contributions held a high standard all around this year.
“There was a high level of creativity among the designs this year and all the packaging was well made. The students have really thought about what products are suited for sustainable packaging. It was also fun to see the high level of their videos which give a good, clear description of the packaging projects.”
Consumers with high demands
In addition to the PIDA Gold Award, winners were elected in three more categories. The prize for the Highest Level of Innovation went to the design Deep from Nackademin for their way of thinking sustainably and new, but still with a focus on visual appeal. Winner of Highest Level of Sustainability was the design Björke, also from Nackademin, which had a clean and simple design that aims to shorten the production chain and provide a more sustainable product for the consumer. Winner of the Highest Level of User Friendliness award was the design Ocho from Linköping University, for their way of challenging e-commerce to use more sustainable alternatives.
“More and more consumers want to actively contribute to a sustainable future, and this will place even higher demands on climate-smart packaging. I think that this year’s contestants have embraced just that,” says Sophie Lindhe, Brand Project Coordinator, BillerudKorsnäs.
Young talents become tomorrow’s packaging designers
The international competition PIDA is arranged by BillerudKorsnäs and is carried out in collaboration with leading universities and colleges in Sweden, the UK, France and Germany. Each year, over 200 design students participate. In this year’s Swedish edition of PIDA, Mid Sweden University, Nackademin, Brobygrafiska and Linköping University competed. The jury consists of a mix of industry professionals – designers, converters, brand owners and other specialists.
“With PIDA we achieve several different purposes at the same time,” says Anders Gathu, Marketing Manager at BillerudKorsnäs. “We aim the spotlight on the importance of packaging for brands, consumer benefits and the environment. We want to shine light on the young talents who will become tomorrow’s packaging designers and bring them together with industry professionals. By offering a meeting place for ideas, innovation and inspiration, we help push industry development forward.”
For more information:
Sophie Lindhe
BillerudKorsnäs
Phone: 0725-23 71 79
Email: sophie.lindhe@billerudkorsnas.com
Anders Gathu
BillerudKorsnäs
Phone: 0722-43 36 61
Email: anders.gathu@billerudkorsnas.com