Following the successful premiere in 2017 KHS has now presented its award for innovative bottle designs for the second time running. The Dortmund manufacturer of filling and packaging systems for the beverage, food and non-food industries launched the project last year together with the School of Design at the University of Applied Sciences in Münster, Germany. The task set by this year’s student competition was to devise ideas for aseptic bottles. Various designs were submitted by the students, with the best three distinguished at a special award ceremony recently held at the university.
During the last summer semester over 20 students majoring in product and communication design developed a number of innovative PET bottle ideas for the design competition initiated by KHS in cooperation with the Münster School of Design (MSD) at Münster’s University of Applied Sciences. The aim was to come up with concepts for the aseptic filling of especially sensitive products. Besides developing 3D models a brand image and suitable marketing strategy were also to be devised for the different beverages, some of which were invented by the students themselves. The bottles were judged at the beginning of July by the school’s leading professors, Prof. Torsten Wittenberg and Prof. Rüdiger Quass von Deyen, and by KHS’ bottle design experts. The awards were then presented at the University of Applied Sciences in Münster on November 22. “Developing germ-free bottles is a big challenge. The students’ designs are of a very high quality this year, too, and more than satisfy the requirements of the task they were set,” says Arne Wiese, Bottles & Shapes product manager at KHS Corpoplast GmbH in Hamburg.
Natural product the winner
The students ultimately submitted various designs for bottles holding between 180 and 750 milliliters. There were no limits to the size and shape of the bottles or the flavor of the content: from alcohol-free punch through tea with added fruit to fruity slush a whole range of beverages was presented, all of which contain ingredients which necessitate aseptic filling. The team with the Bereza bottle design won first prize. The product, water extracted from birch trees, promises a natural experience and absolute purity which is retained by the germ-free bottle. “Thanks to the curved ornaments worked into the material the design is reminiscent of the leaves and roots of a tree. This well-coordinated concept from product to bottle had us convinced,” states Wiese. The Kinko design took second place, a set of two bottles containing a relaxing and an invigorating fruit juice beverage. The third prize went to Quokka, a cold coffee brew with added fruit.
Cooperation leads to success
The projects were developed in close cooperation between KHS and the students. In addition to a trip to the production shop in Hamburg, the budding designers also profited from permanent supervision by KHS experts. “The students were very thankful for the opportunity to confer closely with their KHS mentors. This gave rise to a number of interesting specialist discussions with our experts which both sides benefitted from,” confirms Wiese. The students’ designs are also to be shown to select customers who will be asked to indicate their interest in the new products. Based on the good results of the competitions held to date, KHS aims to again invite entries for the award in 2019.
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