Swedish student wins EskoArtwork Packaging Challenge

At the 2010 EskoWorld User Conference in Tampa, Florida, EskoArtwork awarded Anna-Lena Jansson, a 2010 graduate student in packaging design at Broby Grafiska in Sweden, the company’s Software Packaging Challenge grand prize.

Earlier this year, EskoArtwork invited anyone involved in packaging – from design agencies, tradeshops and converters to educational institutions and students – to show off their creative talents by entering the EskoArtwork Software Packaging Challenge. The competition challenged entrants to design the packaging for EskoArtwork’s

Suite 10

, an upgrade of the company’s portfolio of software for packaging and print professionals. The winning design will be produced to ship more than 10,000 EskoArtwork Suite 10 software packages.

An independent panel of five industry experts from all over the world evaluated the entries. ‘We were completely overwhelmed by the interest in the contest. We received over 500 inquiries expressing interest and, ultimately, 62 entries,’ said Susie Stitzel, EskoArtwork’s design lifecycle manager. ‘It was an interesting twist for EskoArtwork. While we develop all of the tools, in this role we were acting as the brand owner challenging the global packaging design community. And it was typical to the way the process works: we supplied the design brief, branding elements, technical support and logistics, and left it up to the participants to create packaging designs that stood out – and a group of independent judges to determine the winners.’

‘I was pleasantly surprised with the diversity of the entries, and the scope of the creativity that was demonstrated by each of the submissions. There were so many different creative ideas on something that you would think would be as “straightforward” as software packaging. Design creativity and the ability to realistically produce the packaging cost-effectively were very critical to the overall judging process and the determination of winners, along with sustainability,’ explained Chris Lyons, publisher of the design group for ST Media and chairman of the judges. ‘What was intriguing about the grand prize winner was the extraordinarily clean lines and visually stimulating use of structure and graphics, together. The cube design was nice, with an adjustable sleeve to accommodate the multiple DVDs. I think that it bodes well for the future of the packaging design that a student won this competition.’

The grand prize was awarded to Anna-Lena Jansson, a 2010 graduate student in packaging design at Broby Grafiska in Sweden. During the three-year education program, Ms Jansson received training and developed her skills in special subjects such as structural design (using ArtiosCAD), graphic design, packaging construction and pre-press.

‘I have a passion for packaging design and ArtiosCAD. So, I knew this contest was just the thing for me,’ enthused Jansson. ‘My basic idea was to create a simple packaging design that looked high-tech. It's produced entirely in paper, making it both environmentally friendly and low-cost to produce. I also put a great deal of attention to branding and marketing. The package can thus stand on its own for demonstrations at trade shows and can be fully branded by the company.’ As winner of the contest, Jansson receives 2,000 euros.

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