Ravensbourne student wins Pro Carton Young Designers Award

Chloe De La Fontaine, a BA (Hons) Product Design student at Ravensbourne University London, was awarded the UK Pro Carton Young Designers Award 2020 for ‘Bolt’, her innovative cartonboard packaging design.

Bolt is a vitamin dispenser with a bold lightning bolt structure, designed to invoke the energised feeling consumers associate with taking vitamins. It also features a mechanism to dispense just one capsule at a time, so it can be used conveniently at any time, wherever you are.

Chloe scooped up the national prize while in only her first year of study here at Ravensbourne, beating out hundreds of other hopeful entries. Her prize was awarded in December by BPIF Cartons, the UK trade association that represents the carton and cartonboard industry.

She was inspired to create her design after observing for herself how the vitamin industry overwhelmingly uses plastic bottles as packaging. Winners of the Pro Carton Young Designers Award are expected to create products that showcase not only innovative design, but also promote the use of sustainable cartonboard packaging over other materials.

The prestigious prize comes after a trying year for our students due to the challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In lieu of the usual formal awards ceremony, Chloe was presented with her winnings here at the university. Her prize includes an iPad, a trophy and a framed certificate.

We would like to extend our warmest congratulations to Chloe, whose win marks the fourth time one of our students has picked up the annual award.

Reacting to her win, Chloe said: “When I found out I had won the award I was shocked, because I didn't expect it! It took quite a while to develop and I tried many different variations of the shape to come up with the bolt of lightning.

“Doing this project has made me look at packaging differently – when I ordered some vitamins for myself, I saw that they used big plastic tubs – that’s when I had the idea for Bolt. I wanted to create something to replace them but also make sure the packaging looked interesting.” 

Nadine Bennett, joint course leader at Ravensbourne University London said: "The closure of schools and universities earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic posed a challenge for teachers and students, which were forced to adapt to virtual lessons. This was particularly problematic for teaching practical subjects such as design, so we encouraged our students to enter Pro Carton's Young Designers Award in the UK.

"Many of our students stepped up to the challenge, with two being shortlisted by the judges for the UK award, and Chloe scooping the prize. We are incredibly proud of all who entered for representing Ravensbourne Product Design and advocating the use of sustainable cartonboard packaging. But Chloe's win is a real triumph as she is only in her first year of undergraduate study, so we are sure she will go on to create many more creative packaging designs!"

The Pro Carton Young Designers Award 2021 is now open for entries, up until the deadline of May 24 2021. The award features four categories, including Creative Carton Packaging (Eat & Drink); Creative Carton Packaging (All other); Creative Carton Ideas; and Save the Planet.