Award for Packaging Design (Single) (Tie)

Award Sponsor: SLD

Winner (Tie): Janina Joy Magat

Winning Project: Shared Table

Award Sponsor: SLD; School: KPU Wilson School of Design, Richmond, BC; Educator Support: John Belisle

Shared Table responds to the parallel problems of food waste and food insecurity in Vancouver by reframing food redistribution as a shared, everyday experience rather than a charitable exchange. The packaging system connects local cafés, bakeries and community kitchens with people experiencing food insecurity, drawing on the familiar form of takeout boxes to keep the experience approachable and recognizable. A warm colour palette creates a sense of comfort and welcome, bold structured typography ensures clarity and hand-drawn illustrations communicate movement and connection, while stamp-like graphics nod to traditional food packaging and reinforce everyday trust. The system is designed for both sides of the exchange — food providers looking for a more visible, community-connected way to redistribute surplus and individuals and families receiving it—as well as the everyday Vancouverites, from students to café regulars, whose lives food culture already touches.

Winner (Tie): Julianna Mayan

Winning Project: Field Day

Award Sponsor: SLD; School: KPU Wilson School of Design, Richmond, BC; Educator Support: Michael Cober

Field Day is a disposable camera brand created in response to screen addiction and constant digital distraction, meeting a Gen Z audience that is increasingly seeking balance and time outdoors without giving up the urge to document meaningful moments. Loose, hand-drawn illustrations romanticize the outdoors and invite a sense of adventure, embracing playfulness and the imperfection of human touch in contrast to the sleek, futuristic tone of most tech products. That warm, human design reframes how memories are created and valued, encouraging deeper engagement with people and places while still leaving room to capture them. The brand speaks to 16–30-year-olds who are highly engaged with digital culture but increasingly aware of its costs, offering a nostalgic, tactile alternative to digital photography for anyone caught between wanting to be present and wanting to remember.

Honourable Mentions

Hold The Music by Jade Bolton, George Brown Polytechnic, Toronto, ON
The First Move by Janna Montalbo, York University, Toronto, ON
Moonwell Sleep Gummies by Hobert Nguyen, Vancouver Community College, Vancouver, BC
Dressed In Dior Jewellery Set by Melody Riad, York University, Toronto, ON