Waxwrap students deliver winning designs with a commitment to the environment

WaxWrap, the brand that provides consumers with a sustainable and naturally effective food storage system, this week announced the winners of its inaugural Student Design Challenge 2022.

On the hunt for fresh innovative design ideas from bright minded students, WaxWrap launched the competition in Spring 2022, which received entries from some the UK’s leading arts universities for the creative industries including Central Saint Martins, University of Arts London (UAL) and Arts University Bournemouth (AUB).

The brief aimed to harness the creativity of young people with a passion for design and a commitment to environmental issues.

Students were asked to develop fresh and innovative concepts in line with the brand’s ethos and mission to reduce plastic consumption and encourage a zero-waste lifestyle, as well as reflecting the organisation’s key messages.

The winning designs needed to have application across the brand’s three formats – rolls, bags and pre-cut wraps.

The judging panel comprised a team of industry experts, included Emily Field, senior buyer, Good Club; Alison Thomas, grocery buyer, Planet Organic Ltd; Adrian Boswell, fresh food buyer, Selfridges and Andy Smok, sales & key account manager, WaxWrap.

Each university group was awarded 1st, 2nd and 3rd cash prizes of £500, £250 and £100 with six winners chosen from a total of more than 80 entries.

The winners from the two university regions (London and Bournemouth) featured very different graphics, one depicting fresh and zesty sliced fruit and the other a quirky print with a repeating avocado visual.

Commenting on the student design challenge, Andy Smok, sales & key account manager for WaxWrap said: “The competition was designed to celebrate, encourage and inspire the next generation of designers. The brief was to provide innovative new designs for WaxWrap’s range of products.

“Designs needed to fit with the WaxWrap brand personality and be sympathetic to the brand’s heritage and core sustainability proposition. It was also important to appeal to the WaxWrap core audience, primarily women, 25 – 65, eco-warriors, conscious consumers and the concerned younger generation – as well as foodies. We were incredibly impressed by the quality and creativity present across all the entries.”

Alison Thomas, grocery buyer for Planet Organic said she was amazed by the extensive variety of designs and the different interpretations of the brief. “From lots of foodie, bee, nature-inspired themes through to broader concepts – ranging from the bold and outrageous to the more subtle design. Overall, I was really impressed.”

The winning designs are under consideration to go into future production on a limited edition run in one of the brand’s markets.

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