RIT and Cal Poly Teams Capture Top Honors in Paperboard Packaging Alliance Design Challenge

The Paperboard Packaging Alliance (PPA) named a student design team from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) the winners of the 2005 Student Design Challenge. The team received $1,500 and their academic program received an award of $2,500. A graduate student from the California Polytechnic Institute secured second place, and a two-person team from Cal Poly took third place.

Winning entries were selected by a team of paperboard packaging industry professionals that judged submissions based on ability to respond to the competition scenario, innovative structural and graphic design, functionality, and quality of the finished product. The 2005 winners were recognized at a PPA student luncheon held in conjunction with Pack Expo in Las Vegas, NV, on September 27th. Applications and criteria for the 2006 Paperboard Packaging Alliance Student Design Challenge are now available on www.paperboardpackaging.org

The PPA is a joint initiative of the Paperboard Packaging Council and the American Forest & Paper Association. The PPA provides the paperboard packaging industry with ongoing analysis of evolving packaging requirements and promotes the benefits of paperboard packaging and products. Alliance membership includes companies representing the full range of mills and converters engaged in the production of paper-based consumer goods packaging.

First Place

The winning submission from Rochester Institute of Technology is the "Build Innovation" Card Sleeve developed by the design team of Jennifer Farrin (senior), David Lickstein (senior), and Robin Matusik (senior). The entry is constructed with a push-out tray and windowed cover sleeve that features the "Build Innovation" message when closed, and reveals the PPA Web site URL as the tray is pushed out of the cover sleeve. The tray top opens to reveal 10 slotted "building" cards that describe paperboard attributes such as "renewable," "promote," "protect," "versatile," and "recycle." The cards also bear diagrams of structures to build with the interlocking cards, such as houses, cannons, dogs, and airplanes.

Second Place

Cal Poly graduate student Lauren Bienenfeld submitted the "Business Cardholder." The cardholder graphic design conveys an environmental landscape of a mountain range and sunrise with the message that paperboard is a renewable resource. The construction employs a "sunray" of slot insertions in which business cards can be placed and stored in Rolodex fashion. The cardholder design is easy to assemble, lightweight, and sturdy.

Third Place

"Paperboard Condo" by the Cal Poly design team of Samuel Hsu and Aaron Chan secured the third place award. The Paperboard Condo graphically depicts an apartment building and functions as a notepad and pen holder. The package has a slot on top to hold 8" x 11" notepad paper, and two circular holes in the middle of the "roof" to hold pens and pencils. The finished product promotes the recyclable paperboard material while displaying all the advantages of paperboard through the sturdy construction and engaging graphic design.