Global design award a piece of cake for DMU student


Tapping into the soaring consumer demand for sustainable fish has earned a De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) student an international design award.

Ewart Wade O’Connor won gold in the Starpack Student Awards UK and went on to finish in the top 10 best new designs worldwide by the WorldStar World Packaging Organisation – the only UK winner on the shortlist.

fishcake-story-inset

Ewart, who studies Graphic Design, said: “They shortlist 50 people and the top 12 get commendations so to be placed seventh in the world is pretty amazing!”

The brief was to come up with a way of making sustainable Norwegian fishcakes more appealing to shoppers for the Norway Seafood Council.

Instead of traditional round “cake” shapes, Wade came up with triangles and decided to use the council’s sustainability ethos throughout his design.

All the packaging was re-usable and recyclable, while the cardboard sleeve used a simple interlocking closure tab meaning it did not need glue.

Students were given only a few weeks to come up with a design. Ewart said: “I wouldn’t say I lived off fishcakes for three weeks, but I did have to stop hanging around the supermarket aisles taking pictures of different packaging!

“I changed the shape of them and did research into materials that are biodegradable which can be used in frozen food packaging. Then I had to prove that the councils in England were able to recycle the packaging so that required a lot of research to show they accepted that type of plastic in their recycling depots.”


He researched the company to get ideas on how to position the product in line with the firm’s brands and values. The product packaging was made using DMU’s plastics and print workshop.

He said: “They had a strong Nordic identity and that comes through in the graphics I designed. The company has a very strong reputation for corporate social responsibility and sourcing all their fish responsibly so I wanted to reflect that in the packaging.”

Judges praised Ewart’s work and singled out his extensive product research as a key factor in winning gold. The ceremony will be held in Milan in May at the International Packaging Trade Expo.

Ewart used his previous experience at Oglivy and Mather ad agency in South Africa, Next, and press agency Stocks Taylor Benson to inform the process. He is due to graduate this year and hopes to go into branding. “I’m fascinated by branding, being able to bring an identity to life,” he said.  

He is full of praise for his time at DMU. He said: “The tutors were not only passionate about design, but they genuinely cared about our progress as an individual. It is very easy for a university to consider students as numbers because of the fees we pay, however, at DMU the tutors will go above and beyond to help you grow as a graphic designer.”

Ben Archer, lecturer, said Ewart was one of several successful students to take the optional Packaging module. He said: “We are very proud of Ewart’s work. We were up against some very strong entries and the students were all able to produce successful designs.”

Posted on Wednesday 1 April 2015

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