Pentawards shortlist for packaging design announced

• Pentawards, the global platform for packaging design, has announced the shortlisted entries for the 2023 competition

Winners will be announced at Pentawards’ Gala Ceremony, taking place at Magazine London on 10 November.

New category: Branding & Consumer: Best Collabs

This year’s awards saw the introduction of a new category, Branding & Consumer: Best Collabs, which received a significant number of shortlisted entries alongside the consistently strong Beverages and Body, Health & Beauty categories.

Among the shortlisted entries within the Best Collabs sub-category are:

• Johnnie Walker Blue Label x Luke Halls Cities of the Future 2220 packaging

• General Mills’ Reese’s Puffs x Kaws packaging
  
• PepsiCo’s limited edition cans with Mr Cartoon and Eintracht Frankfurt
  
• Montreux Jazz Festival x BMG with their The Montreux Years record cover series
  
• Butterfly Cannon’s collaboration with Brooklyn-based graffiti artist Jason Naylor for Stoli Vodka.

With entries to Pentawards in recent years having shown a clear theme of collaboration between brands, artists and creatives, the team introduced the Best Collabs sub-category to bring a deserved spotlight to collaborative packaging design.

The introduction of this category not only aims to reflect the overall rise of collaborative design in packaging, but also to celebrate the synergetic nature of the industry - and how brands and creatives working together can produce some of the most exciting and engaging work.

Product packaging is not just a container, it's a showcase

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“What we find inspiring about collaborative work in packaging design at Pentawards is its potential to bring different audiences together, engaging a broader range of consumers,” says Jennifer Clements, project and marketing manager at Pentawards.

“The combination of strong, creative minds, particularly in less expected partnerships, can also offer up some of the most refreshing and surprising ideas and innovations.

“We’ve been especially pleased to see a high number of entries within the Best Collabs category this year, coinciding with a fantastic range of entries to the overall competition,” she continues.

In judging the Best Collabs sub-category, Pentawards’ 2023 jury panel noted interesting clashes between bold expressive art and traditional label design, collaborations between past and future as well as fun, immersive storytelling and support of positive causes.

Key category finalists

A snapshot of the chosen finalists within other key categories include:

• Oentologie’s vibrant Senses wine labels
  
• Tpye Tea’s minimal packaging by Dowell Design in the Beverages category
  
• By Far Daydream Fragrance Collection packaging by VV Creative
  
• Argrrntum Fragrance Collection les parfums infinis within Body, Health & Beauty.

Entries across the competition have shown developments of key themes such as tactile detailing, smart packaging, hand-written motifs and consumer-led sustainability, as explored in Pentawards’ 2022/23 Trends Report.

See the full list of shortlisted entries here.