Creative Packaging

Judging for the 24th annual packagePRINTING Excellence Awards competition was held in late June at the offices of North American Publishing Company (NAPCO) in downtown Philadelphia. This year's judges—Jim Flynn, Gallus; Joe Hamway, Mark Andy; and Bob Waddington, UVitec Printing Ink—did a fantastic job again this year. The competition resulted in a total of 72 awards, including 25 first place awards and the ultimate prize, Best of Show honors.

Paring down the category winners to select the Best of Show winner is quite a chore. This year, it came down to two entries, with Mansfield, Mass.-based Hub Folding Box Company's Stoli Gold PET VAP nosing out South Australia-based Collotype Labels' offset-printed Trilogy wine label. While the judges felt that the Trilogy label was "understated and a beautiful job," they were ultimately swayed by the quality and the degree of difficulty of the Stoli package.

According to Tony DiRico, one of four third-generation family owners actively involved in managing the company, Hub Folding Box Company's philosophy of "Creativity Through Packaging" has been part of the company makeup since its founding by Francesco DiRico in 1918. The creativity came through loud and clear with this packaging.

The design of the Stolichnaya 2009 Value Added Package (VAP) was a collaborative effort between the customer, William Grant & Sons; design company Momentum Marketing; and Hub Folding Box, says DiRico. "Our collaboration on the structural and graphic design of this carton has allowed William Grant to produce a beautiful, attention-grabbing package that is sustainable and meets all of the client's needs," he states.

The Stolichnaya 2009 VAP is comprised of a carton and tray. The carton is made from 100 percent recyclable PETE and the tray is made from rPET (recycled PETE). Its sustainability credentials also include the use of UV inks that contain no VOCs.

"The Stolichnaya VAP speaks to the product image through use of Hub's Liquid Ink Technologies, high-end performance design, and product visibility," says DiRico. "By reverse printing on one face of the sheet, the ink is protected on the inside of the carton set, thus eliminating the need for an additional component. In addition, the exterior of the package was stamped to maintain the high-end look of the Stolichnaya brand."

The Stolichnaya VAP was produced on a Heidelberg press custom-configured to minimize the number of passes required, notes DiRico. The one-sided printing used a total of 15 colors and coatings. "We used UV inks throughout the entire job, as we find that the UV inks have better coverage and overall scuff resistance on PETE material," he continues.

All of Hub Folding Box's inks are created on-site in Hub's 300,000 square foot facility. In addition, DiRico says that the company uses Kodak plates for all its printing needs, primarily due to the reliability of the plates. For the Stolichnaya VAP, Hub used Kodak Thermal Gold plates.

The collaboration for structural and graphic design clearly paid dividends for this award-winner. "These packages are solid, with protected product, and still grab the consumer's attention at retail through the subtle and modern use of color and high-end printing and stamping capabilities," says DiRico. pP