ASIA STAR Awards: A Stage for New Designer to the Road of Packaging

ASIA STAR Awards: A Stage for New Designer to the Road of Packaging

          It has been over the past ten years that the students of RMUTL had an opportunity to represent their abilities in the Packaging Competition in Thailand and Asia. The performance of the students of of RMUTL was always on the top on this stage.

          The competition in packaging design was in cooperation with the Division II of Sectoral Industries Development in Department of Industrial Promotion, the Thai Packaging Association, and Thai Corrugated Packaging Association. These sectors established the competition to encourage all designers to develop their skills in design packaging, to promote the international export of Thai products, to raise the standard of Thai packaging to international standard, and to be the representative of Thailand to submit Thai packaging to the international competition.

The section of Packaging and Printing Industrial Development, Division II of Sectoral Industries Development in Department of Industrial Promotion held the activities to support those activities by holding the annual competition in Thai packaging in coordination with private sectors and educational institutes which related to packaging under the different themes in each year. The winners whose their packaging won the award would be considered to be the representatives of Thailand to attend the Asia Packaging competition (Asia Star) in the future.

Ms. Sasithorn Thongpremchit, the advisor having specialist experience more than ten years in packaging industry and maintain the standard of our packaging, told us that “Department of Printing and Packaging Technology had the policy which always supported the students to submit the project to the competition in ASIA STAR Awards. This is because the major of Printing and Packaging Technology wanted to encourage all of the third-year and fourth-year students to have an opportunity to attend the annual competition project in packaging, and to be representatives of Thailand to attend the Asia competition. This was an important opportunity that the students could perform their abilities and potential which the lecturers would give them some advice and suggestion from procurement, design the prototype of the packaging, and design the packaging for each student. These processes would help students learned and improved their potential. The students would learn from hands-on, practical training by adopting the theories into their design, solving the problems, testing, and actual practice. The competition was for representative selection of Thailand. The winner may not win the Asia competition. On the other way, the representatives who did not win the national competition may win the Asia competition. Therefore, we would try to be the winner of Thailand so that we could be the representative to attend the Asia competition. Working in the project, the advisor and students would emphasize on getting experience from the competition in previous years including the mistakes to improve and to find the ways to design the packaging based on the annual challenge. To be the winner of the competition, it depended on the packaging which was designed whether it met the conditions of the challenge or not.”.

          Miss Suwimol Unruen or May, the winner of the award in Asia Start 2015 from the competition in ASIA STAR Awards in 2015 at Istanbul, Turkey in the project of COCONUT SHELL LAMP. She told us that “I was very proud of myself to make the reputation to the university and my family. I also applied all of my knowledge I learned to perform my ability. I would use this award to inspire and to create new better packaging design.”.   

Miss Saroya Gunjai or Buay, the winner of the award in Asia Start 2015 from the competition in ASIA STAR Awards 2015 at Istanbul, Turkey in the project of RESIN DOLLS. She told her impression to our team that “Chiang Mai Province had varieties of handcrafts which had differences of uniqueness. Resin dolls were the beautiful and quaint products which could tell the clear stories themselves. The resin dolls were products which could develop to add more value and to differentiate themselves from other products.”.

This product was the one making me proud because it made the reputation to the Department of Printing and Packaging Technology and the university. Having inspiration in working the project led us to perform good performance. The guidance from the lecturers also made our performance to be more perfect. To be the representatives of Thailand attending the Asia competition made us to be proud of ourselves, the Department of Printing and Packaging Technology and the university which we could present our potential for creating the project and developing all knowledge we learned to apply for the project. We also had support and suggestion from the lecturers to make our performance to be more perfect.”.

And Nook, Miss Netnapha Tichachat, the winner of the award in Asia Star 2015 from the competition in ASIA STAR Awards 2015 at Istanbul, Turkey in the project of LUCKY STONE JEWELRY. She forwarded the message to you that “This competition showed the others that we had potential to perform the project which we spent time and put a lot of effort on each product. We adapted knowledge learned from the lecturers and suggestions from senior students and friends for solving the problems. These help the process of the project successfully completed. The product which we won the award in this competition made me, my family, and the Faculty of Arts and Architecture, Rajamagala University of Technology Lanna proud. In the future, we would share experience we gained to develop in extension to be representatives to submit the packaging design to the world competition (World Star); and also, we would extend knowledge to the next generation to develop and support all designers to improve their packaging design to step up into the global level.”.

Based on my experience, we learned many things more than ten years all the ways through from the project which we submitted to the competition. All stages of doing the project taught us to create learning process, creativity, and opportunity for students to have their own spaces to show their potential presenting the abilities of being students of Rajamagala University of Technology Lanna. To remain the standard of packaging to be the frontline of the country, it was not easy, but it was challenging. There were new designers who showed up in the industry every year which students learned through learning process, analysis to be the next qualified and practical graduated students in the industry of packaging of Thailand.