PIDA 2023: Outside of the Box Design of the Year

The Outside of the Box Design of the Year Award has been established for miscellaneous packs and materials that are not included in any other category.

"We often talk about being innovative as thinking outside of the box, and this category tests not only that type of thinking, it also represents a broad spectrum of essential packaging that isn’t destined for the retail shelf, but fulfills an essential service in product protection for transit and end-use," said PKN managing editor & publisher Lindy Hughson, who was co-host of the 2023 PIDA awards.

"With fibre the material squarely in the spotlight on all trendwatch platforms, it’s not surprising that the shortlist of innovations for this award are all fibrebased. The packaging selected as finalists push the boundaries of design conventions, while considering product safety and end of life for the sector they are servicing."

And the winners are...

The Bronze winner was Future Ecology – EmGuard by Oji Fibre Solutions NZ , while the Silver winner was Snell Packaging – Mattress Corner Protector, also by Oji Fibre Solutions NZ .

Cleaning up the top spots, the Gold was Coola Box, also by Oji Fibre Solutions NZ

About the Gold winner:

The innovative Coola Box design caters for cool air containment inside the box that is needed for e-commerce deliveries. The box structure is designed to have a snug fit overlapping walls that can assist in better chilled and frozen ingredient arrangements packed with ice packs and appropriate headspace as needed. This design can successfully achieve the requirement of temperature control needed for all delivery cycles.

This smart, sturdy box in a box design structure achieves better space utilisation and increases the number of items that can be safely packed. This results in a reduction of transit damages.

The box is made from 100 per cent NZ recyclable corrugate board. The end user can now conveniently dispose of the packaging with other recyclable items in their collection bins.