The Paperboard Packaging Council (PPC) has announced the top winners of its 75th annual North American Paperboard Packaging Competition. The five folding cartons and rigid boxes represent some of the best paperboard packaging manufactured by North American converters during the past year.

Paperboard Package of the Year
The Decemberists – I’ll Be Your Girl, submitted by JohnsByrne

This boxset for The Decemberists’ latest album, I’ll Be Your Girl, truly sings. Inside the rigid slipcase is an intricate popup book that holds vinyl records. A unique structural element, the book has a mechanism that lifts the vinyl and bends the pages into a striking geometric pinwheel shape. For an interactive experience, the design incorporates hidden treasures and surprises like diecuts and popups, all of which were laser-cut and hand-glued. 

Folding Carton of the Year
Kellogg’s EXTRA Creations, submitted by Graphic Packaging International
In a category dominated by rectangular cereal boxes, the EXTRA Creations design with gable-top structure stands out in the cereal aisle. Graphically, an elegant black backdrop highlights a code color and photos of ingredients and cereal clusters. The footprint is smaller and more stable than traditional cereal boxes.

Rigid Box of the Year
Taylor Box Company Holiday Mailer, submitted by Taylor Box Company  

Taylor Box’s 2017 holiday greeting to clients and stakeholders was a set of three nesting rigid boxes that allude to Matryoshka dolls. Celebrating diversity and inclusion, the graphics feature children of various ethnicities, genders and body types engaging in wintertime activities. Inside the final box are 16 colorful crayons — a surprise gift for children and children at heart. 

Digital Application of the Year
The Rodeo Campaign, submitted by WestRock

Featuring multiple rodeo-inspired images that wrap around the carton, this design captures the consumer’s eye from every angle. The rodeo campaign was the largest job WestRock had ever printed digitally for a client in the U.S. Prior to the project, high-quality digital printing on transfer-metalized board thicker than 12-point was unheard of. WestRock’s engineers and quality assurance managers made it happen on 24-point board.

Innovation Award
Green Dot Full Spectrum Extract Pen, submitted by JohnsByrne

JohnsByrne’s “Certified, Patented Child-Resistant” design folding carton for cannabis vape cartridges features a unique locking mechanism. The two-piece structure has interlocking tabs that prevent the components from separating. To open the pack, one must press down on two pressure-release tabs and then slide the additional tab in the finger slot to reveal the insert. The carton offers overall soft-touch coating and spot gloss UV on the logo.

Visit paperbox.org to see all of the winning entries and learn more about the competition.