We speak to Ingrida Kirkliauskaitė, Freelance Packaging Designer from the Cute Cure Initiative to learn more about the award-winning work and what's next for the team.

Tell us about Cute Cure, how did it start?

We have all come together from different fields for this project. It all started when Ernesta, who works at HAVAS as an art director. She had the idea to create a pro bono project for children in hospitals. Her sister Adriana, a freelance illustrator, first joined her. Later, Ingrida, who works on packaging design, also as a freelance designer, joined the team.

In this way, Cute Cure has been gathering up a team of people needed to make the project happen. This project is unique in that we are working on it in our spare time, but we hope and dream that one day we will be able to create a full-fledged company, Cute Cure.

We are a team with very different design expertise. Ernesta's strength is her comprehensive creative thinking, which she has developed over many years in her work in advertising. It was her who came up with the idea for Cute Cure.

Adriana is a talented illustrator specializing in character and visual design, and she has created the cutest little animal characters. Ingrida has a lot of experience in packaging design, she helped us to create structural solutions for the packaging.

The fact that we all come from such different backgrounds is the biggest advantage of Cute Cure.

Are you currently working on any exciting new projects?

We continue to work on different projects in different agencies. We always have exciting projects - that's what keeps us alive and happy as designers. And also with Cute Cure we are continuing to move forward. We have a really big goal - to bring Cute Cure Healing Kits to as many children as possible worldwide.

Can you talk us through the journey of creating the Cute Cure Healing Kit's visual identity, the inspiration and challenges in bringing the pack to life?

The creative path was certainly not an easy one, as this project is no ordinary packaging project. It is a completely new concept and format that we have created from scratch.

The biggest challenge was to find a shape and structure for the medicine covers that would fit different sizes and be versatile. As different medicines are used in different hospitals, this was a really difficult puzzle.

Our biggest inspiration was the joy we can create for suffering children. Every creative solution was based on the idea that the packaging would give children a pleasant emotion that would help them on their difficult healing journey.

Congratulations on winning the Platinum Award in Professional Concepts! Can you tell us about your experience?

An award of this level, such as winning a Platinum Pentawards, is an extraordinary event in any designer's creative journey.

We are extremely happy that Cute Cure has been noticed and appreciated. We all have worked hard to develop Cute Cure, so this award is a sign that we are moving in the right direction.

We feel immensely grateful, as well as motivated to move forward and improve Cute Cure.

Which part of creating the pack did you and the team love the most?

I liked the goal of creating packaging that was very easy to use. We tried to simplify all the creative solutions as much as possible. And that simplicity, the fact that the design is so simple to use and is understandable to people of all ages and backgrounds, is what gives me the greatest satisfaction.

It was also a lot of fun to create all the visual characters. We wanted the kids to really like them, so we even had a workshop with the kids who helped us come up with the "superpowers" of animals that were used in the stickers.

What does the power of design mean to you?

As I was first learning about packaging design, I thought "Great, now we will create rubbish!". Then I realized that design is the element that separates rubbish from truly impactful and emotion-building packaging.

The Cute Cure project is a perfect example of how design, when used in the right way, can have a huge impact, even on the most vulnerable children suffering from various illnesses. It's amazing for us to see how a solution using just paper and a good idea can brighten the mood and change the emotional state of children for the better.

People who work in design are very creative, and great problem solvers. We want to inspire all creatives to dedicate their ideas not only to commercial projects but also to social projects, where those ideas and solutions to unique problems can make the world a nicer place to live.

The Cute Cure team continues to work to bring emotional healing to as many children around the world as possible.

We have lots of ideas on how this project can grow and have an even stronger positive impact on the experience of children and the people who care for them. We have so much faith in this project and we are doing everything we can to keep it growing.

We look forward to hearing from everyone who can contribute to its development. Contact us at cutecure.it .

Find out more about Cute Cure here , and enter this year's competition for a chance to be a Platinum Award winner!