Metsä Board Announces Its Better with Less – Design Challenge Winners

A jury of package design experts chose two submissions to share first place: Kid’s Headphones Packaging, by designer Kitty Ching and the Cardboard Protecting Filler, by designers, Marcin Michalski, Monika Klimpel, and Adrian Olejnik.

“Choosing the winner from such excellent entries was an incredibly difficult decision, so the jury decided to select two first-place winners,” says Ilkka Harju, Chairman of the jury and Packaging Services Director at Metsä Board.Cardboard Protecting Filler by Marcin Michalski, Monika Klimpel, and Adrian Olejnik.

The first winning design, Kid’s Headphones Packaging, focuses on consumer usability and recyclability. Elegant design engineering provides easy-to-open packaging and excellent protection of the product. It also allows for reuse, as the inner part of the packaging provides an option to store the headphones.

The joint first-prize winner was, Cardboard Protecting Filler, a TV or electronics transport protection solution that creates a protective beam-like structure on the TV packaging, protecting the contents on each side of the package. The fresh fiber packaging is lightweight and durable, supporting the circular economy in terms of easy recycling and minimizing the amount of material used.

RESHAPE by Dawid Thiel.The first prize winners will share the combined prizes of 1^st and  2^nd place and will receive 6,500 euros each.

The third prize, 2000 euros, was awarded to the project RESHAPE. Dawid Thiel’s packaging concept is designed to work for a wider range of products due to an innovative packaging format that significantly reduces the number of packaging items that need to be stored. The graphics guide the consumer to tailor the packaging to their specific needs.Zero Waste Medication Blister Pack by Patrick Walby.

Totally Bananas by Max Gubbins.An internship at Metsä Board’s Paperboard and Packaging Excellence Centre in Finland was also awarded to one student. The winner was, Zero Waste Medication Blister Pack, designed by Patrick Walby, a package for the pharma industry that aims to replace the plastic and aluminum often used in medication packaging with paperboard.

Two honorary mentions were also awarded to, Totally Bananas packaging, designed by Max Gubbins and F’lover, designed by, Mine Koca.F’lover Final by Mine Koca.

The international packaging design competition Better with Less – Design Challenge 2022–2023 was the 3^rd one organized by Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group. The competition invited designers to create the zero-waste packaging of the future. As many as 124 entrants from 27 countries joined the challenge with their creative ideas. The competition jury included renowned packaging design experts from around the world.