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Harry BennettAntalis Creative Power Awards finalists: two sustainable projects embodying the power of eco design
Earlier in 2022, we brought you news of the Antalis Creative Power Awards – a celebration of printed projects by international paper manufacturer Antalis. Once the deadline was closed and all of the entries were in, we travelled to Paris to take part in the jury alongside a range of talented individuals from the design industry; helping to select the finalists from the awards’ eight categories.
From there, we have curated our favourites and will be presenting them to you across a series of eight articles before unveiling the winners. Within the Eco Conception category, we’ve spoke to Vilnius-based creative peers Miranda Design Solutions and Critical to discuss their sustainable printing practices, practical processes and the influence of paper stocks in printed projects.
The Vilnius-based collaboration between skincare brand MATH Scientific and Miranda Design Solutions hosts an enviable harmony between environmental and aesthetic sensibilities, with the duo’s sustainability-focused credentials acting as a defining element. This eco-focus manifests not only in the brand’s material choices, opting for I’m Green™ polyethene for the bottles and raw Metsä Board paperboard for the packaging, but also in the brand’s partnership with the Coral Reef Alliance, regularly donating profits to the cause. In addition, the packaging is printed and assembled without the use of glue and with minimal amounts of ink – a decision made to reduce the environmental impact and increase the recyclability. Discussing the packaging’s black and white aesthetic, Miranda Biretiene tells us, “this classic colour scheme makes our packaging look contemporary and fashionable, and represents the ‘less is more’ philosophy that we live by,” looking to embody the effortless integration of the brand within its user’s way of living. “Therefore we rely on a colour scheme that can easily complement their environment," Biretiene notes, “and blends into their unique lifestyle.”
MATH Scientific’s minimal visual identity is also embraced in Miranda Design Solutions’ choice of type, implementing The Designers Foundry’s Gordita as the hero typeface. “Strict and structured words form a wholesome look that immediately gives the user a feeling of class and reliability,” Biretiene explains, noting the typeface choice. “Less décor leaves more space for clarity and transparency,” she adds, similarly reflecting such simplicity and style through the inclusion of technical illustrations. “The facial illustration represents the collaboration between science and aesthetics,” Biretiene reveals, wanting to convey the brand’s expertise and stylish implications. “It’s a symbol of opening the doors of academia and allowing people to experience the best science can offer in their everyday lives,” she remarks, wanting their users to stay true to themselves whilst keeping an open mind to innovative practice. “When you have a goal like that,” Biretiene notes, “every single detail matters.”
Lithuanian brand Bious Labs set out to make premium skincare products that are as high-end and sustainable as they are affordable, striking a unique tone between exclusivity and accessibility, as achieved via their collaboration with Vilnius-based design studio Critical. Brought on board to help shape Bious Labs’ practical and approachable identity and eco-first packaging solutions, the team first developed the brand’s tactility; creating an unconventional recycled corrugated box that serves as the robust, external shipping receptacle and the product’s presenting container when the package opens. Additionally, the packaging’s stocks boast either 85% or 100% recycled credentials, using no plastic lamination and saving materials through the unique construction.
Beyond the physicality of Bious Labs’ practical, eco-friendly packaging, Critical embodied the brand’s considerate nature typographically. Opting for Boulevard LAB’s Avenue Mono as the primary typeface and Radio Grotesk by Pangram Pangram for the identity’s supporting text, Critical cite the simple san serif’s “contemporary twist and subtle softness” as necessary to compliment the informational hierarchy of the text-heavy brand. As for Avenue Mono, Critical tell us, “the font has a newness in the context we decided to apply it,” explaining, “the relationship between technological and human domains was very appealing to where we were heading,” noting the additional benefit of the typeface’s functionality. “It has perfect readability in small sizes, enough charisma, and a unique look,” Critical add. Combined with the monochromatic colour palette, the type pairing cements the premium tone of the brand, elementarily epitomising the philosophy and intention of the brand.
Bringing Bious Labs’ visual identity together is the prominent and systematic use of graphic shape, helping form simple patterns and signifying forms. “We wanted a clean and simple solution to represent subtle visual clues speaking about key product functions,” Critical remark, “the shapes had to be easily differentiated from one another,” they continue, whilst feeling connected under the same visual storytelling thread. “We wanted to immerse a person into the dynamic forms,” Critical conclude, “for a more full comprehension of the product function.”
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