Founded in Belgium in 2007, Pentawards was the first and is now the leading competition exclusively devoted to recognising excellence in global packaging design.
Now in its 15th year, the Pentawards competition has received in excess of 20,000 entries from over 64 countries globally since launch. Each year the Gala Ceremony is held in a different location around the world, with 2020 being the first virtual event, and the winners are featured in the exclusive The Package Design Book.
Committed to recognising excellence in design and connecting the global packaging community, alongside its annual competition Pentawards also hosts a variety of international conferences and events.
With its crocodile-shaped logo and textured glass bottle, this rum was inspired by its native Cuban land that locals call “Isla del Cocodrilo” (Island of the crocodile). The front label reveals the brand logo and product description using embossing, debossing and hot gold stamping. The back label, in the form of a train ticket, is an invitation to board for a trip to wild Cuba. Each back label is individually numbered, making each bottle of rum unique. With sustainability in mind, the bottle is produced at the nearest glass manufacturer in Mexico, the labels are made from cotton by-products of the textile industry and are affixed by hand in Cuba, and the intricately engraved bottle stopper is made of sustainable cork and wood coming from FSC forests.
To create this unique design, the wine produced by Monte da Carochinha was immersed in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean on the Alentejo coast in Portugal for 10 months. Ageing the wine in this way created amazing and beautiful motifs on the bottle, created by the sea. Each bottle is unique and crafted by the sea, then simply labelled with its name.
The packaging realistically imitates the toughness and durability of the glove material, with an effect that looks like there is a sharp object inside the pack that could break the material but doesn’t – it only stretches the surface. Thanks to the clear-cut and crisp solution, the design is both neat and distinctive and will stand out on any surface, making it a key brand positioning tool.
Attempting to re-examine the food industry's design style of using pictures in a regular way, this packaging injects vitality and shapes the new generation of ice cream brands. The design for this low-calorie healthy ice cream packaging captures the habits of healthy food users by highlighting the nutritional elements through the reorganization of information levels and bright colours.
FRAHM are a small family run online-only UK business that take sustainability and men’s mental health very seriously. To create memorable packaging for their jackets and to reinforce their Tough Beautiful mantra, Supple Studio used macro shots of UK native beetles – nature's tough and beautiful little creatures. Printed large-scale on boxes and bags, the beetle idea neatly reflects FRAHM's technical garments that are great for getting outdoors in all weathers. And to remind recipients that FRAHM supports the charity Mind – they created a bespoke packaging tape with an 'Open Up' message.
This limited-edition packaging series of kitchen storage and cleaning products from Japanese retailer Askul is inspired by the various shapes and textures found in the kitchen. Combining raw materials such as kraft card stock with clean Scandinavian design, the design was inspired by the various shapes and textures found around the kitchen.
Created for a supermarket chain in Greece, this exclusive line of vegan home care detergents targets environmentally-conscious consumers. The name OceaniQ, is deliberately misspelt to bring “Oceanic” and “IQ” together, to showcase the smart use of plastic ocean waste in its packaging. This product, which combines packaging made of 100% recycled fishnets from oceans worldwide and mild cleansing, plant-based agents, helps protect the life of the oceanic creatures which are shown in the original illustrations across the packs.
Special One soda is a social project dedicated to raising awareness of and reducing the stigma of mental health conditions among young people. Five special tastes correspond to the five most common personality disorders, whose features are shown using graphic metaphors on the front of the can. On the back, you can read general information about the disease and find out the first symptoms. The packaging also has augmented reality — if you point the camera at the can, the animation will show an interesting fact about the disease. At the click of a button, a person can take a test for the first signs of a personality disorder.
Developed with a young e-commerce market in mind, the re-design of this packaging stands out from traditional luncheon meat (or ‘spam') packaging. The front clearly expresses the brand, using eye-catching pink and pure black colours to create the contrast, whilst the oral expression of the Chinese characters “吃肉”(‘eat meat’) is transformed into the shape of a pig. On the back of the pack, a ‘piggy nose’ is created, helping to make the pack more identifiable, and ultimately making the product fun and engaging for the consumer.
