We speak to KURZ, head sponsor of the Pentawards Gala Ceremony 2023 & global leaders in thin film crafting innovative solutions balancing aesthetics, functionality, security & communication coupled with decades of experience

Tell us about KURZ and its area of expertise.

KURZ is an established family-owned business with over 120 years of experience. We are rooted in Germany but operate internationally and have over 30 sites worldwide. Over the past decades, we have steadily expanded our expertise in surface decoration. We set new standards in the plastics industry – for example, in the areas of Automotive, Consumer Electronics, and Home Appliances – as well as in the packaging and labelling industry and the field of product and brand protection.

Glossy metallized effects (LUXOR®) combined with holographic effects (LIGHT LINE® Laser Select)

Our motto, ‘Making every product unique,’ sums up our goal and motivation: We always want to provide our customers with the best possible embellishment solutions and support them as a competent partner – from the initial idea to the finished product. In doing so, we combine our innovative strength with a deep commitment to sustainability.

What are the noticeable latest trends in the thin film technology industry?

Year after year, our design management examines emerging trends. In our experience, there are two fundamental tendencies that both engage and challenge brand owners and designers. For example, when we focus on the graphic industry, we find that a product’s packaging plays an increasingly important role. In our fast-paced world, product branding must send a strong message, catch the eye, and stand out from the masses in a split second. Various finishes can help achieve this goal – from high-gloss motifs to diffractive and holographic effects or edge-to-edge metallization to actual 3D effects with a unique feel.

View What's Next: boxes No. 2. With this packaging design, the KURZ Design Management Team translates the newest trends with impact on the creative industry, into tangible packaging design

Boxes No. 2: #1 Random – fascinating weird: One of the four trends translated into design

At the same time, we also notice a development that, at first glance, appears to be an opposite trend. It is driven primarily by the desire of many consumers for greater sustainability, and a sense of responsibility, for minimizing plastic use and saving energy and resources. For many, this is synonymous with minimalist packaging with little or no embellishment.

How does KURZ deliver solutions that are trending with requirements while maintaining sustainability in finishings for packaging and labels?

Brand owners can strengthen their brands and simultaneously use more environmentally friendly decorations. To ideally support them, we have reduced the thickness of our transfer carriers from 12 µm to 10 µm in the hot stamping area – and even to 6 µm in cold transfer. In addition, our decorations have no impact on the recyclability of the packaging.

They can be recycled together because no plastic film remains on the finished product! We remove the transfer carrier material after the decoration process. What remains on the product is a wafer-thin layer – thinner than human hair! – which is entirely recyclable. Also, depending on the product, surface, and production requirements, various processes and coatings can be used to decorate packaging or a label.

No plastic film on the packaging: attractiveness meets sustainability

What is the importance of choosing the right type of coating?

In the printing industry, we have an almost infinite variety of surfaces with very different properties. Whether it is paper, cardboard, or plastic, rough, uneven, or smooth: They all bring their requirements. In some cases, the best results are achieved with hot stamping; in others, it is best to choose cold transfer – and a corresponding transfer foil. The key is to know the properties of the surface in question and the desired finish. Our technical and design teams are there to help each customer select the right materials and processes to match their product and at the same time show a variety of possibilities in design.

Boxes No. 2: #4 Boldism – What you see is what you get – our fourth trend translated into bold design and colours

Can you share an example of projects you have recently worked on or are developing?

For us at KURZ, it is essential to empower our clients in their creativity and show them new possibilities. One project that demonstrates this approach very precisely is our above-mentioned award-winning boxes series and another of which we are particularly proud of is ‘Make a Mark.’ It is a collaboration platform created to break new ground in sustainable and innovative packaging for wine and spirits, food and cosmetics. We launched ‘Make a Mark’ with Avery Dennison and Estal to build an inspiring design community and allow designers to express their creativity without limits. We also collaborate with various clients from several industries. If you want to get an idea of our projects, you can find several case studies on our website.

How can KURZ contribute to upcoming designers with their packaging projects?

Some designers know the exact effect they want to achieve or at least have an idea. We assist them with colour samples, effects, and textures which fit their design and, if needed, suggest finishing processes to achieve a high-quality result. For designers who yet have to learn about all possible effects and embellishments, we provide inspiration, show different colours and effects, and educate them about what results they can achieve with which techniques.

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To help designers and brand owners get an idea of our embellishments without creating expensive prototypes, we also introduced DREAMCOMPOSER® – a 3D visualization software to test different finishes virtually. By using it, designers can move from a flat layout to a fully embellished 3D rendering in just a few steps.

As a headline sponsor for the 2023 Pentawards Gala Ceremony, what value does it hold for KURZ as a business?

As ‘Make a Mark’ already shows, design is enormously important not only to our customers but also to us. Design is the cornerstone of every new project – and designers are the ones who challenge us day after day to overcome our fears. They often have a vision that is the spark needed to continuously improve ourselves and our products.

Christophe Dujardin, Global Business Development Manager Sustainability / Cold Transfer as a Speaker at the Pentawards Festival 2022

KURZ Exhibition stand at the Pentawards Festival 2022

We must ask ourselves, ‘How can we make this unique, new, fancy idea happen? What technology does it take?’ We will reach a new level of innovation only when we set out to find the answers. This is what we at KURZ are committed to – and this is also why the cooperation with Pentawards is of particular importance to us and a great enrichment.

What is KURZ’s focus and the next steps for the future?

We want to build on the successes we have already achieved and improve even further in the process. We want to continue to present creative and efficient solutions to our customers. To move one step closer to the circular economy, we were the first company in the plastics industry to develop a return and recycling system. As the transfer carrier material is removed during the decoration process, this recycling system allows us to recycle the transfer substrate residues from our decorations. We are continuously developing this program called RECOSYS® to be able to recycle even more transfer materials and expand the range of possible applications for the recyclate.

RECOSYS® 2.0

The latest highlight is the launch of RECOSYS® 2.0, which enables us to process our transfer substrate residues into recycled PET (rPET) for the first time. In the coming years, we plan further investments in RECOSYS® and have the long-term goal of recycling all our transfer carriers and turning them into new transfer material.

If you wish to know more about KURZ, click here or follow them on LinkedIn.

KURZ is a proud sponsor of the Pentawards Gala Ceremony 2023