Baroque theme won PIDA Germany
The PIDA Germany event offered a full dozen exciting unboxing projects, engaging presentations and thought-provoking keynotes. The Baroque-inspired Gold Award winner was a popular choice for an audience of some 120 people in the Liederhalle in Stuttgart.
The Gold Award went to Sucrerie, a beautifully worked confectionery box designed by Ellena Köhler and Lukas Wörn. “A premium product presentation translated into an innovative, purposeful packaging solution with an unconventional design and a positive unboxing experience,” as the jury said.
Why do you think your project won, Ellena and Lukas?
“Because it was a good concept, where everything came together in a very clear way: the idea, design, colour palette, typography – and the presentation. Having won is a great feeling, not least considering the work and the problems we had to solve along the way.
“It was difficult to achieve a nice finish to the circular shape. And we had to struggle with the embossing. With a small piece of cartonboard, it is easy. But with a larger surface, it takes big force to press a pattern out of the material. We tried many grades and grammages until we finally got it right.”
Wide span of concepts
PIDA Germany of 2018 had contestants from Hochschule der Medien from Stuttgart, Hochschule München, and University of Applied Sciences of Würzburg-Schweinfurt. All three universities received awards. The very diversity of the projects presented no easy task for the jury – the twelve nominees had created concepts with a variety of themes: cocoa beans, pirates, peacocks, popcorn, contact lenses, and more.
Hard time for the jury
“Well, we had this one big challenge,” says Thomas Reissig, chairman of the jury. “To choose between two worthy candidates to the Gold Award. The rest of the ranking was more clear, but the two best ones were really difficult. Fortunately, the jury was bigger than usual this year. Contrary to what you may think, it is easier for a larger group to reach a consensus.”
Praise for the bird
The award for Highest Level of Innovation went to Le Paonneau (the French word for peacock), a surprise packaging of a pair of scissors where the product itself becomes part of the design. The jury praised the execution and the consistency of Le Paonneau: “form, language, function, graphics and the witty presentation of the concept came together as a coherent packaging solution”.
Praise for the beard
A packaging concept for beard grooming won the Highest Level of Sustainability award. Containing everything you could possibly need for beard care, the Barber Club packaging itself is reusable, recyclable, and low-ink. “A full set of beard-grooming products is a better proposition than having to unpack blister packs or individual products wrapped in plastic”, said the jury.
The team that won two awards
Sarah Geissler and Theresa Brandl won both People’s Choice and Highest Level of User Friendliness. “We’re happy, especially about winning People’s Choice,” says Sarah. That’s beyond our expectations. The work process was a good experience, too. Our project was difficult, in terms of technical challenges, making elements fit, and working against a tight deadline.” The jury praised the “attention to detail and high-value elaboration”, and said the design could be useful also for other products, having “the quality of working as a template for serial production”.
High quality all around
Thomas Reissig, the chairman of the jury, was pleased with the overall quality of the contending design projects:
“I was especially impressed by the quality of the mock-ups, the prototypes. They were skillfully made, with embossings, spot laquers, foils and combinations. Obviously, great effort had gone into making them. All in all, high quality objects and good presentations.”
A full programme
Besides the presentations and the award ceremony, a mixed audience of students, press and industry professionals were treated to three keynotes. Gerriet Danz shared his insights in innovation and the success in breaking rules. Heike Scholz explained how digitalization has changed point-of-sale and in-store experiences. Jürgen Dornheim, P&G, addressed the need for sustainable consumer packaging.
Photos of all nominated and winning packaging projects are found in the Gallery.