- 2021
Inspiring spice packaging is the international winner of PIDA 2021
The overall winner in our prestigious design competition PIDA – Packaging Impact Design Award – has been chosen. This year the winner is the French entry “RESPICE” made by the three design students Romane Bazile, Jeanne Douchet and Marion Braconnier from IUT Reims. The winning concept challenges conventional packaging and awakens the senses – which was exactly what this year's task in PIDA was all about. Meaning the packaging should go beyond mere colour and shape, but also use sound, touch, taste and scent to engage the consumer.
The winning students describe their packaging project as follows:
“RESPICE is a way to spice up your life. It is a really tasty box to put in your kitchen as a decorative display. The opening of the box provokes a sound that excites your hearing and allows you to guess at the ingredients. The patterns stimulate your sight with the terracotta colour and clean typography. Finally, a QR-code gives you more information about the spices,”says team RESPICE, who besides the honour also won a trip to Sweden to participate in the BillerudKorsnäs design summit.
What impressed the jury
The jury consisted of a mix of well-known industry professionals and the winning motivation reads:
“The Grand Finale winner of PIDA 2021 has really taken the theme Awaken the Senses to action. With sound, touch and feel they have created a new concept within its field that gives the consumer an inspiring surprise combined with a digital bridge. This concept in its clever book format really challenges the conventional packaging and inspires the consumer to an extraordinary gourmet sensation.
It is the perfect balance between innovation, sustainability, conviviality and user-friendliness. Re-Spice, Re-fill, Re-use, Recycle, and Re-duce the packing impact on the environment without any kind of compromise on the design.”
The PIDA Grand Finale was held on September 27 at Luxe Pack Monaco (the world’s leading trade show for innovative luxury packaging). In total, 100 students competed in PIDA with 40 design projects. Four teams managed to advance to the final – by winning the semi-finals in France, Germany, Sweden, and the USA earlier this year.
“The jury’s decision was not easy. The level of the competing entries was exceptionally high and everyone who made it to the final succeeded to awaken our senses in various ways”, says Lena Dahlberg, Manager Application Development Paperboard at BillerudKorsnäs.
The other finalists
Besides the winner, three other teams competed in the Grand Finale and these were:
The German finalist, from Hochschule der Medien, was Krystal Kream, a ground-breaking vegan ice cream packaging concept.
From Swedish college Nackademin, the project Lost in Senses, a playful packaging designed for a tea set and a whole tea experience.
The third project in the final was The Golden Bee Skincare, an unconventional packaging concept designed by a team from Clemson University in South Carolina, USA.
A win-win for both contestants and audience
The interest in PIDA has grown for every year and in 2021 BillerudKorsnäs arranges the competition for the 16th time.
“PIDA is more than a competition; it’s an arena for tomorrow’s packaging designers to showcase their talent, and it’s where professionals come for ideas and inspiration. It’s an initiative to drive the development of packaging design forward,” says Anders Gathu, Marketing Manager Cartonboard BillerudKorsnäs.