Success at the WPO WorldStar Student Global Packaging Awards 2025
A total of 14 BSc (Hons) Product Design students from NTU were recognised at this year’s WPO WorldStar Student Global Packaging Awards collecting 15 awards in total.
By Jon Duckworth | Published on 11 February 2025
Categories: Current students; School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment;
The WPO WorldStar Global Packaging Awards competition is designed to encourage and showcase the talents of students as well as displaying new and innovative ideas and thinking in the field of packaging.
Through the publicity of WPO's global publications and website, student winners are provided the opportunity to gain professional acknowledgment and entrance into a career as a packaging professional. This competition is open to students enrolled in a collegiate-level design program or packaging engineering program (undergraduate or graduate) anywhere in the world who have already won an award at a national/multi-national competition.
BSc (Hons) Product Design students who were successful in the 2024 Starpack Students competition were invited to take part in the WPO WorldStar Global Packaging Awards competition. For the 2025 awards, 237 students from over 23 countries around the world entered the competition and were assessed in several categories ranging from Marketing Appeal, Sustainability, Packaging that Saves Food, and Best in Beverages to Best in Food, Best in Household Products, and Health & Personal Care and Miscellaneous Packaging.
Credit: WPO.
During the competition, students were challenged to communicate the potential benefit of their design packaging solution whilst being assessed on the degree of innovation, sustainability, sales appeal/graphical appearance, ease of processing/manufacturing, functionality, efficiency and overall impression.
In total 14 NTU students won 15 awards across multiple categories including a Bronze Award in the ‘Health and Personal Care Packaging’ category. In addition, NTU received the highest number of awards out of all of the UK institutions in the competition for the second year in a row.
Dr Luke Siena, Senior Lecturer in Product Design, who led the students through their projects/entries, said: "The WPO WorldStar Global Packaging Awards competition provides our students with the chance to compete not only against the best talents in the UK but also with outstanding students and teams from around the world. The competition judges have once again recognized the exceptional quality of our students' design work, with some truly impressive packaging designs being produced."
“The recognition our students have received through these awards is a testament to their hard work and attention to detail in their design process. We would like to thank the World Packaging Organisation and the awards organisers for giving our students the opportunity to participate in this competition and for acknowledging the excellence of our BSc Product Design students once again.”
AURAE, BLOOM by Viccy Abrar.
Speaking about her design, Viccy Abrar, who won the Bronze medal for the Health and Personal Care Packaging’ category, said:
“I'm glad that I can say this was one of my first competition awards. The lead up to the competition and the entry itself may have been a little stressful (I couldn't help but keep trying to perfect my product even with the competition deadline looming) but the process was simple and knowing that your hard work paid off is absolutely exhilarating, even if it was just a bronze this time, and it truly encourages me to try again and try for better."
“The 'AURAE, BLOOM' features the latest trend in the perfume industry: tinplate packaging. Much like its name, it 'blooms' as you open it, collapsing into a bloomed bud. After taking out the perfume, you can also put it back together and use it as an incense burner, which allows you to make use of the perforations (which had initially been for the sake of reflecting light through the packaging) to diffuse the incense as if from a gorgeous flower."
Ben Macvean, who was awarded a finalist certificate for his redesign of a Lucozade Bottle said:
"Winning a WorldStar Student Award has been an incredible experience, and I’m proud to have my design recognised globally. My project focused on creating an innovative packaging solution that revitalises the Lucozade Energy brand, stands out on shelves and is a convenient shape to store and drink from. This recognition has opened doors to exciting opportunities in the FMCG industry. I’m excited about what the future holds!"
Congratulations to all the students recognised in this year's competition:
Bronze Award in ‘Health and Personal Care Packaging’ Category: Fazia Abrar
Finalist Certificates: Viccy Abrar, Hugo Andersson, Harshitha Ganesh, Amelia Germain, Charlie Gibson, Gavin Jones, Matt Ledger, Ben Macvean, Primrose Mbyemeire, Ellie Moore, Anel Nosinova, William Stenning, Nivedh Sujith, James Walker