Pennsylvania College of Art and Design Students Shine with Eco-Friendly Packaging Solutions

PCAD Students Sustainable Packaging Design Earns Top Recognition

When innovation meets sustainability, it sparks transformative solutions that address environmental challenges. Innovative minds with sustainable practices can create products and systems that contribute to a healthier planet. A team of four students from the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design was named one of the top three finalists in a nationwide design contest, where they developed sustainable paperboard packaging for potatoes, exemplifying that progress and environmental stewardship can go hand in hand.

The winner of the contest, which aimed to create plastic-free product packaging, will be announced at the Paperboard Packaging Council's industry conference in Atlanta on September 30. Logan Byer, a 23-year-old PCAD senior from Bucks County, was competing alongside two PCAD graduates from Philadelphia named Bahir Harris and Kendall Harris-Burton, as well as Cam Maier, a PCAD junior from Virginia. Byer expressed excitement about the chance to connect with packaging professionals and explore potential job opportunities. Kelly Fellner, a 2022 graduate from Rochester Institute of Technology and a contest judge, confirmed that the competition can serve as a career springboard; she also participated in the Paperboard Packaging Alliance’s Student Design Challenge multiple times, securing three internships through connections made at the conference and now a creative manager at Pusterla US in New York, part of a luxury packaging company headquartered in Italy.

To tackle the challenges of package design, PCAD graphic design professor Tom Newmaster used ideas from his clients. He picked the Fresh Solutions Network, which promotes imperfect potatoes to cut down on food waste because their focus on the environment matched the contest’s goals. The students faced the challenge of designing paperboard packaging that managed the moisture emitted by potatoes, for this, they incorporated airflow into their design and used a hexagonal, stackable format to ensure the packaging was both transport-friendly and display-friendly. Kelly said that attention-grabbing visuals are as important as practical prototypes in packaging design, and how the packaging looks on a shelf is key. Cam Maier highlighted that packaging combines creative graphics with user experience. Logan Byer realized that blending artistic skills with marketability could turn into a career in box design.
 

In packaging design, attention-grabbing visuals are equally important as practical prototypes, and the appearance of packaging on a shelf is really important. Packaging combines creative graphics with user experience, it should be given priority while designing. Blending artistic skills with marketability could help to make students' careers into box designing. The experimental packaging course offered by PCAD will surely help students find an exciting and challenging career. The Atlanta conference surely paves the way for students to build a network and find suitable job opportunities in the field of Packaging and design.

Editor’s Note:
 

Students from the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design get worldwide recognition for their innovative and sustainable packaging design. The innovative work of these students highlights the importance of taking responsibility for the environment as the young generation has revolutionary ideas for every ecological problem. These four students inspire thousands of other students to create packaging designs that look attractive and also sustainable. 

Skoobuzz congratulates the students and eagerly anticipates the Atlanta Conference, which promises to open new career opportunities for these talented individuals in packaging and design.