First place winner of the 2014 Glass Packaging Design Competition at Michigan State University School of Packaging is the student team of Brett Boonie, Stephen Grimmer, Mitchell Kreps, and Brody Losh. Their pagoda-style, black-glass design for “Emperor’s Choice” soy sauce beat out 64 student teams in this eighth competition sponsored by the Glass Packaging Institute (GPI).
The winning glass bottle features the distinct shape of a Chinese castle, complete with a bright-red tiered closure. “Every design feature ties back to the old world origin theme which is brought together throughout,” says Paul Koning, MSU packaging instructor who led the competition with Rick Bayer, GPI Academic Subcommittee Chair, as part of GPI lectures to MSU packaging students. “It’s also a really feasible package from a manufacturing standpoint and that makes it attractive.”
The 10 fl. oz. glass bottle sits on a square, plateaued base with bowed sides, and a rooftop neck and cap reflecting the distinct pagoda architecture. “The black glass made it special,” says student winner Steve Grimmer. “There are a lot of plastic soy sauce bottles out there, but if you want something to be premium it really has to be glass. Glass also has good tactile feel, and the flexibility to create really unique bottle shapes.”
