Hologram awards in packaging

A creative and production team from Toppan Printing Co Ltd, Hitachi Ltd and Hitachi Chemical Co Ltd has walked off with the ‘Best Packaging Award’ for an innovative RFID Crystagram label at the International Hologram Manufacturers Association’s (IHMA) Excellence in Holography Awards 2008.

These were presented at the conference dinner of the annual holography conference Holopack•Holo-print® in Toronto.

The RFID Crystagram label is the world’s first combination of hologram and contactless integrated-circuit (IC) chip, and uses the aluminium of the metallized hologram as the antenna for the RFID.

One facet of the hologram is that it can be demetallized, providing an intricate, customized design without any detriment to the antenna function. In addition, the Crystagram can have covert image elements to create a product authentication feature which combines overt, covert and traceability functions.

The Certified Diamond Blister Pack from the Belarus-based company Holography Industry JSC also received high praise from the judges in the packaging section.

Developed for Russia’s diamond grading and certification facility, the Smolensk Gemological Certification Center, Holography Industry’s hologram is applied to the protective blister packaging of certified diamonds to show if it has been compromised or interfered with in any way.

A promotional hologram used by Imperial Tobacco to distinguish its Lambert & Butler brand from others won the ‘Best Promotion Award’. API Holographics and its sister company API Laminates created the new eye-catching hologram, featuring a ‘starburst’ visual effect, to ensure the Lambert & Butler brand stands out at the point-of-sale.

A holographic packaging concept developed by U.S. firm Vacumet Corporation to ensure boxes of Hasbro’s Trivial Pursuit 25th Anniversary Edition stood out on retailers’ shelves in the crowded toys and games market was also highly commended.

The ‘Best New Holographic Product Award’ went to Liechtenstein’s U-NICA Global Security Solutions for its intraGRAM™ injection mold-embedded hologram.

The development involves embedding holographic images during the injection molding process, paving the way for the future mass production of integrated holograms in plastic parts. U-NICA believes the intraGRAM has huge potential for the cost-effective mass protection of branded goods against counterfeiting.

Organised by the IHMA, the 16th annual Excellence in Holography Awards recognises outstanding industry success and achievement. The awards go to those organizations that have introduced the most innovative or commercially viable hologram product or technique over the year.

Delegates from the worldwide holography community attended this year’s presentations at the Holopack•Holo-print® conference. A display of products from the winners and runners-up was also on show at the conference, signalling the breadth and depth of the technology’s applications and commercial span.

Presenting the awards, IHMA chairman Philip Hudson, said: “We have seen a record level of entries for this year’s awards. Innovation and quality were again to the fore and congratulations to the winners for their outstanding contribution to the holographic industry over the past year. They have demonstrated the highest technical expertise to design and deliver extremely effective, eye-catching and cost-effective holographic solutions.”

The full list of this year’s awards and commendations for outstanding projects is available at www.ihma.org