2005 PAC STUDENT PACKAGING DESIGN COMPETITION
STUDENTS SINK THEIR TEETH INTO PAC-HEINZ "HOT BITES" PROJECT
For several months, hundreds of Canadian design students in packaging programs were challenged with a unique in-class design project. As participants in the 2005 PAC STUDENT PACKAGING DESIGN COMPETITION, they applied their creative ingenuity to redesign the package graphics for Heinz Canada's "HOT BITES" Bagel Bites frozen snacks.
Launched by the Packaging Association of Canada in 1995, the biennial Competition began a mandate to provide students with valuable learning experiences. Over the years, they have had the opportunity to work on some high profile brands in class: Kraft Dinner, Kraft Golden Honey Shreddies, Tetley Iced Tea, Nestlé MEGA ice cream novelty, and Nabisco Bits & Bites. The Competition builds on PAC's 40-year tradition of celebrating and promoting the achievements of Canada's packaging industry through its National Packaging Competition.
We congratulate the seven FINALISTS who earned the opportunity to present their design rationales to the judging panel on April 11. Their packages are also being showcased at PACex International 2005, Canada's National Packaging, Food Process, Material Handling and Logistics Show, May 24-26, in Toronto. More than 15,000 industry professionals from every packaging-related field attend the show.
1st PLACE: Darrell Cooke, Conestoga College, Kitchener, Ont.
2nd PLACE: Bryan Scott, Red River College, Winnipeg, Man.
3rd PLACE: Adam Mckinlay, Canadore College, North Bay, Ont.
FINALISTS:
Kayn Leduc, Mohawk College, Brantford, Ont.
Stephen Looi, Ontario College of Art & Design, Toronto, Ont.
Diana Pennese, Humber College, Toronto, Ont.
Dave Rodgers, Durham College, Oshawa, Ont.
A total of 235 students at seven participating colleges worked on the Bagel Bites project, guided by a package design brief from sponsors H.J. Heinz Company of Canada Ltd. and Corporate Visuals Inc. (CVI), the designer of record for the brand. In the preliminary round of judging, Heinz and CVI chose seven designs--one per college--to advance to the final round on April 11 where students presented their design rationales in person.
"We challenged students," says Competition Chairman Alicia Mulak, President of Corporate Visuals, "to develop a proprietary design system and an effective communication hierarchy to meet the changing and future needs of the desired target group, with a view to renewing consumer excitement and stimulating purchase intent with a refreshed shelf presence. This involved an exploration of the branding, sub branding, flavour variety, and overall brand positioning. We were very impressed with their work. They put a tremendous amount of thought and creativity into evolving their designs."
"It was a great experience for us," enthuses first-place winner Darrell Cooke of Conestoga College in Kitchener, Ontario. Darrell's winning design earned him a $2,000 scholarship and brought the college $1,000 in support of its Graphic Design program. "It's exciting to be able to work with the actual design brief for a package and then present your ideas to the brand owner," he adds. "And, as it turns out, I happen to be very familiar with the product. I eat it all the time."
See Darrell's design on the 2005 Winners page.
Sandro D'Ascanio, Heinz Canada's Senior Product Manager, Pasta Sauce and Frozen Snacks, says, "Sponsoring this dynamic Competition was a great opportunity for us to encourage and support the designers of tomorrow. We were very pleased to see the amount of student participation from the various colleges across Canada and were even more impressed by the quality of the submissions. As a company committed to having the highest packaging and graphics quality, it is pleasing to see that Canada's graphics programs are generating such high quality future designers."
CORPORATE SPONSORS
This year's Competition has been made possible through the generous contributions of six Corporate Sponsors with the goal of encouraging young Canadian package design talent.
H. J. Heinz Company of Canada Ltd.
Corporate Visuals Inc. (CVI)
Smucker Foods of Canada Co.
ANTHEM
Kraft Canada Inc.
Senton Incorporated
Renaissance Mark
Their financial contributions total $15,000, supporting both finalists and colleges through $10,450 in student scholarships and college grants. The balance of funds were used to finance travel and accommodation for the top students per college to present their rationales in Toronto and, later that day, receive their awards at the PAC National Packaging Competition Gala Awards Ceremony. Students also had the opportunity to tour the Corporate Visuals studio the following day.
THE BEST OF THE BEST
The Student Competition Awards were presented before an audience of 430 brandowners, package designers and converters at the PAC National Packaging Competition Gala Awards Ceremony & Dinner. The event took place on April 11 at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto. Attendees also had an opportunity to examine all seven final designs on display during the pre-Gala reception.
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TOP ROW (L-R): Anne Marie Pagliacci of ANTHEM, Dave Desveaux of Smucker Foods of Canada Co., Kerstin Stiebel and Sandro D'Ascanio of H.J. Heinz Company of Canada Ltd., and Sally Lennox of Corporate Visuals Inc.
FRONT ROW (L-R): Bryan Scott of Red River College, 2nd-place winner; Darrell Cooke of Conestoga College, 1st-place winner; Diana Pennese of Humber College, finalist; Stephen Looi of Ontario College of Art and Design, finalist; Dave Rodgers of Durham College, finalist; Kayn Leduc of Mohawk College, finalist; Adam Mckinlay of Canadore College, 3rd-place winner. |
The ultimate goal of the Competition is to encourage Canadian students to move into the exciting field of package design and to increase awareness of Canadian college packaging programs within industry, resulting in co-op and full-time placements, as well as donations of equipment, funds and expertise.
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