Pentawards 2025 - Student Hub

Calling all design students!

At Pentawards we want to inspire, connect and celebrate the future talent in packaging design from around the world. Over the years, our judges have seen exceptional work come through, and we can't wait to see what you get up to next.

Get involved in our annual competition for a chance to make your mark on the global packaging design stage and help kick start your career in the industry.

The 2025 competition is now open for entries!

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IMPORTANT DATES & NEXT STEPS

20 January	2025 Competition Opens
28 March	2025 Competition Closes

STUDENT USER GUIDES

Student Prices & offers

€50

STUDENT FEE

Throughout 2025

1 FREE

Bundle Offer

When you buy 5

2 FREE

Bundle offer

When you buy 10

3 FREE

Bundle Offer

When you buy 15

For more details and to receive your bundle discount code, please email info@pentawards.org.

Students will also get 50% off trophy and certificate purchases. Winner's Package fees DO NOT apply to Student entries.

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Explore the categories

Student Conceptual work - Beverages

Student conceptual work - Food

Student conceptual work – Body, health & beauty

Student conceptual work – Home, leisure & other markets

Student conceptual work – Luxury goods

Student conceptual work – Sustainable design

*Only those who are currently in education, or who designed a project in 2024 whilst they were in education, are eligible to enter our Student Concept categories.

PENTAWARDS X CARREFOUR BRAND BRIEF 2025

For the 2025 Brand Brief, we’re teaming up with French retail giant Carrefour for an exciting new real-world challenge!

Open to students, recent graduates, and interns, you will create the naming, packaging and overall look of Carrefour’s new GIFT BAR concept. It’s completely free to enter!

Winners will not only receive cash prizes, but their designs will be turned into real life products sold in Carrefour stores.

Dive into the brief now!

Download the brief & enter

NEW: MORE FEEDBACK ON YOUR ENTRIES

We’re excited to announce that we are integrating an additional element of written feedback into the first round of competition results, alongside the Pentawards Excellence Score.

Exclusive to non-shortlisted entries for 2025, the new feature will extend to winning and shortlisted entries soon, becoming part of the standard feedback system alongside the existing Pentawards Excellence Score. This will give entrants more insight into what the jury were impressed by, and where they felt improvements could be made.

The Pentawards Excellence Score includes:

- The entry’s score for each judging criteria

- The design’s overall score based on the judging criteria

- How that design compared to other entries in that subcategory (in each criteria)

- The score that the pack would have needed to be shortlisted (new for all entries in 2025)

Testimonials

It’s the first time our university wins this award so it feels special and we can’t be more honored.

The Package Design Book has always been a reference to us for creativity, quality, and ideas execution in our sector. Achieving this award is a result of teamwork so we are still shocked with happiness and for the opportunities that it brings to our careers.

Martí Garcés Muntalt, Lesley Melissa Batista Víquez, and Trinidad Mosso Tupper NXT-GEN winner 2022

It’s mind blowing to win such a prize! I want to thank Pentawards for sharing my idea worldwide and getting recognised for it. I believe great packaging is made from a great story and value.

Packaging is the most affordable and influential media and we should use it not only for selling products but to show an image of a better world.

Gosha Chubukin NXT GEN winner 2021

When I was on stage receiving the award at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, it felt like a dream. I got the opportunity to connect with so many talented professionals in the design industry, and it made me feel more connected with the global design community.

I am really thankful to Pentawards for giving me the opportunity to get my name on the international stage with the NXT-GEN award. It opened the door for many collaboration opportunities. More importantly, I was recognised for the first time in my life. I wasn't very confident before.

Chen Yu NXT-GEN winner 2018