Industrial Design Engineering students from Mondragon Unibertsitatea take to the podium in the World Industrial Packaging Design Awards for students
Industrial Design Engineering students from Mondragon Unibertsitatea take to the podium in the World Industrial Packaging Design Awards for students
Industrial Design Engineering students from Mondragon Unibertsitatea take to the podium in the World Industrial Packaging Design Awards for students
Students Jone Pérez, Garazi Otxandorena and Mario Marco achieved second prize at the WorldStar Student Awards for their revolutionary design for honey dispensing packaging for the Apisol company
A project developed by students from the Degree in Industrial Design and Product Development Engineering Mondragon Unibertsitatea has achieved a place on the international podium and won second prize at the WorldStar Student Awards, the prestigious world packaging design awards for students, which is held every year by the World Packaging Organization (WPO). Specifically, three students from the Degree in Industrial Engineering and Product Development at Mondragon Unibertsitatea, Jone Pérez Moreno, Garazi Otxandorena Ieregi and Mario Marco Nafria, won an award for their “Honey Extruder” project. It is honey dispensing packaging that is completely innovative, functional and 100% sustainable.
The project offers a creative, innovative and sustainable work as a response to the challenge set by the Apisol foodstuff company. This solution is based on a reusable honey dispenser with a design inspired by beehives.
The packaging awarded this second prize is highly versatile, since it can be stacked and the packaging can be disassembled, making it easy to clean and maintain. In addition, this design has an internal non-drip system that is activated on each dispensing cycle. It also makes it possible to calculate the exact quantity of honey extracted, incorporating a wheel that creates a sound to signal that a complete turn has been made, which is the equivalent of one spoonful of honey.
The winners
The three students carried out their project during the previous academic year, when they were studying their 3rd year of the Degree in Industrial Design and Product Development Engineering at the Higher Polytechnic School of Mondragon Unibertsitatea. Jone Pérez explains that they began to work on it in class, “by then came the lockdown and we had to carry out a high percentage of the project at home”. Nonetheless, in spite of this, right from the start they were certain that they wanted to comply with all the features required by the Apisol company and “we didn't want to finalise anything until we had agreed and specified all the functions of the dispenser”, explained the student.
Once the project was completed, they entered for the International Competition for Sustainable Packaging Design, organized by the Valencia Packaging Innovation Cluster, where they were finalists, which allowed them to qualify for the Liderpack competition at Spanish level, which they also won. As Pérez emphasised, “thanks to this prize, we were classified to enter the WorldStar Student Awards, where we came second”.
Garazi Otxandorena remembered that “we did the work at the start of the lockdown and it was not the best conditions for working in, and that's why every prize we have won, including this one, has been a surprise, we were not expecting it”. Mario Marco added that “we only expected to get onto the first step, but before we knew it, we had reached the world final”.
The three of them agree that the pandemic has meant that the experience of winning the award has had less intensity, because they have not been able to enjoy it in the same way as if it had all been in person, in a pre-Covid scenario. Even so, as Jone Pérez explained, “we're very happy and proud”. The three of then emphasised that “we have received a lot of congratulations, also from the teachers because it is something for them to be proud of seeing their students receive this type of award”, he explained.
For now, the three of them are aware that this award may open some professional doors for them but “we can't take it easy because the world of design is constantly changing. We have to carry on working to remain at this level”, they concluded.
Congratulations to the winners and their group of teachers!
Other projects
The first prize in the WorldStar Student Awards, the most important prize in the world of packaging design was won by a Turkish student for his “Ojo” nail varnish bottle. The third prize was also awarded to a Turkish student for his innovative holder for coloured pencils.
Meanwhile, another five Spanish projects were awarded the “WorldStar Student Certificate of Recognition”, awarded for the good score achieved by the projects presented. They were “Apipack” by Helena Maestre, from the School of Art and Higher School of Design, Alcoi (Alicante); “Bettabox” by Marina del Pino and Salomé Quesada, Higher School of Design, Madrid; “Eco-Hybrid Box” by Irene Deler, Ana Bitrián, Daniel Martínez and Javier Redondo, University of Zaragoza; “Layer_bx” by Eva Milán from the Higher School of Design, Madrid; and, finally, “Muna” by Mónica Castillo, Pilar Artigas, Ignacio Blas and Rocío Cusó, from the University of Zaragoza.
The Judges also awarded a “Certificate of merit” to another 10 packaging designs to students from Turkey, Germany, China, the UK and US.
About the WorldStar Student Awards
The WorldStar Student Awards are only open to projects from students who have previously received awards in national competitions recognised by the World Packaging Organisation (WPO), which in the case of Spain are the Liderpack Awards (“Young Design” category) which are held by the Graphispack Association and the Hispack de Fira Trade Fair in Barcelona. Since 2019 the only way to access this section of the Liderpack awards dedicated to students is through the National Awards for Design and Sustainability of Packaging organised by the Packaging Innovation Cluster.
For the director of this Cluster, Jesús Pérez, this new worldwide recognition involves “revalidating the success achieved in the last edition by young Spanish designers, reaffirming the important position of packaging design in the country and the sector as one of the most important in the world”. Regarding this point, he added that “it is the result of the high level that Spanish universities and centres are contributing to the Awards that we organize each year in Spain, and young people have that much-needed spirit of improvement, especially in these times marked by the Coronavirus pandemic”.
Along the same lines, the General Secretary of the Graphispack Association, Ignasi Cusí, emphasised that "despite the current circumstances, I want to highlight the fantastic participation of the students, and the high level of all the proposals presented".
Due to Covid-19 and the travel restrictions, the awards ceremony for the WorldStar Student Awards will be held virtually in 2021.