2008 Pentawards winners

The international jury for the Pentawards, a worldwide competition devoted exclusively to packaging design, presided over by Gérard Caron, last week announced its 2008 list of winners. Best of Show, winning the Diamond Pentaward, went to the Piper Heidsieck Rosé Sauvage champagne bottle, signed by the Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf and produced by Sleever International.

Herbert M Meyers received an honorary Pentaward for his entire career.

“For this second edition, we recorded nearly 700 entries from 39 countries, an increase of over 35% compared to last year,” said Brigitte Evrard, co-founder of the Pentawards. “A number of the largest packaging design agencies, principally from England, France, the US and Japan, participated. We also received entries from packaging producers and brand owners leaders such as Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Sony, Aekyung, Suntory, Danone Waters, etc.

The goal of the Pentawards is to reward designs originating from all markets, from mass market to luxury. This is why there are five large groupings (Beverages - Food - Body - Other markets - Luxury) encompassing over 40 categories. The Pentawards reward luxury packaging as well as mass-market products; as proof, this year the highest prizes go to a champagne with a worldwide reputation, as well as own-brand chips and even a box of laundry detergent. This is what makes the Pentawards special!”

The Platinum Pentawards, which crown the best packaging in the five major categories, were:

Beverages Category: Turner Duckworth, USA, for Coca Cola Aluminum
Food Category: Pemberton & Whitefoord, UK, for Tesco Tortilla Chips
Body Category: DesignBridge, Holland, for Schwarzkopf Professional OSiS+
Other Markets Category: Aekyung, Korea, for Spark
Luxury Category: Dentsu Kyushu, Japan, for Yaoki Sake

In addition to the Diamond Pentaward and the five Platinum Pentawards, the international jury has also awarded 27 gold Pentawards in the 44 competing categories this year. Silver and Bronze Pentawards were also handed out.

“This year, a new category devoted to limited editions was very successful. It is evident that brands dare to show more creativity when it is a matter of short-lived editions,” specifies Jean Jacques Evrard, co-founder of the Pentawards. “We noted the participation of packaging designers from the emerging countries as well as from ‘distant” countries such as South America, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and of course the countries of the new Europe.

“The four large markets (England, the USA, France, and Japan) represent over 60% of the participants; the emerging or distant countries sent us splendid designs. This confirms the dynamism of the designers and the high level of maturity of these markets.”

Added Gerard Caron, editor of the site www.admirabledesign.com and president of the Pentawards jury, “It is striking to note that the winning packaging was distinguished by a large majority of the jury members, regardless of its geographical origin and that of the competing products; proof that exceptional designs rise above cultural differences and have an international scope.”

All the winning designs can be seen at www.pentawards.org in collaboration with thedieline.
The winners received these global prizes during a special ceremony held at the Luxepack exhibition in Monaco, France, on 30 October 2008. The award-winning creations will be displayed in various locations including Paris, at the new DesignPack Gallery in January 2009, and the Shanghai Luxepack exhibition in March 2009.

Entries for the Pentawards 2009 will be open from 1 May - 15 June 2009. For more information, go to www.pentawards.org.