We are proud to announce that the Design Futures Packaging team won two UK Packaging Awards including Innovation Of The Year after using cutting-edge material FibreForm on the gift bags for Yorkshire-based company Kiroco Jewellery and developing a prototyping and short run manufacturing process for the material.

Creative Director, John Kirkby said ‘We are delighted to win 'innovation of the year at the UK packaging awards'. Our main focus is innovation so to be recognised for it by the industry in this way is a particular thrill.BillerudKorsnäs FibreForm is a paper with exception strength. We have worked over the last 3 years to showcase the paper by producing innovative designs that wouldn't previously have been possible to make from paper. Working with a new material is always very exciting. It really allows designers to push boundaries and create truly innovative new designs’.

The exceptional strength of FibreForm means it can be formed to create structural packaging. This creates the potential to replace some plastics with paper. The paper can also be embossed much deeper than any previous paper material allows you to create packaging that is not only beautiful to look at but also feels great to touch.

Because the material was so new and so different to existing papers there was also a need to develop a production and prototyping method. Alongside the design team the Design Futures technical team have developed a method of soft tooling and short run prototyping which is used constantly to provide Fibreform solutions for major brand owners and packaging suppliers.
This method has recently been developed further with Sprint Finishers in Leeds to devise a short run production method for the material.

The Kiroco handbag sighted in the award is an excellent example of the full process in action. Kiroco Jewellers approach our team looking for an innovative gift bag solution for their new range of products. The team designed and produced initial prototypes in FibreForm and once a design was approved tooling was provided to Sprint who produced the final bags.

The handbag is just one example of a range of stunning new designs we are developing in FibreForm. We are also working with BillerudKorsnas to make brands and designers aware of the new material and the advantages that can be gained from using it.

John Kirkby said 'Because we are based within the research department of a university we are perfectly placed to work with new materials. We are flexible in our approach and have expertise available across a wide range of disciplines. This allows us to really investigate the potential of a new substrate and develop new processes to make initial concepts a reality'.