The ceremony was held at the Island Hotel on February 4th, and was complimented by a dinner featuring high profile industry players, together with special guest, celebratory hairdresser Chaz Dean.
The Young Designers were judged according to the creativity, originality and shelf impact of their packaging designs, by a panel of judges that includes media, packaging executives and ICMAD board members.
Networking opportunity
Not only is the competition a means for student packaging designers to get their first taste of the industry, it also gives packaging players the opportunity to headhunt future packaging design leaders.
This year the competition attracted 85 entrants from more than 12 schools all over the U.S. and the winners were invited to California to pick up their awards. These are the winners:
1st Place
Travis Cuellar
Sudz
Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising San Francisco
2nd Place
Ajalique Chapman
Dragon’s Essence
Colorado Mesa University
3rd Place
Kyle Newkirk
Dirt
Pennsylvania College of Art & Design
Honorable mentions:
Sergio Lopez, Goo Kids Shampoo, American Academy of Art
Brittany Rachel Bosshardt, One Hand Lotion, Colorado Mesa University
The winning entrant, Travis Cuellar, received $2,500 and a design contract job from East Hill Industries, a packaging design business based in Richardson, Texas.
The winning design is also being featured in the gallery at the Evanston Art Center in Evanston, Illinois.