The teams at Equator’s Chicago studios have been honored with two Gold awards and one Bronze award for packaging design excellence at The Vertex Awards 2019 International Private Brand Design Competition in Charlotte, NC.

The design-to-shelf packaging design and branding agency landed gold awards for its redesign of the Culinaria range for US supermarket giant Schnucks and its fresh take on the Barissimo Coffee Passport series for Aldi US. A bronze accolade was received for its original label appearing across Schnucks Snacking Nuts range.

The wins are testament to the unique client relationships enjoyed by the agency. Group creative director Michael Duffy said: “Winning these awards is a reflection of the work we’re able to deliver by working collaboratively with our incredible clients. Our partnership model means we’re encouraged to push the boundaries of creativity as far as possible to deliver work that is meaningful and delivers a measurable ROI.”

The only international competition devoted exclusively to the art of private brand packaging design, The Vertex Awards are the most sought after in the industry. Each year, a highly-esteemed panel of judges assign the awards in recognition of groundbreaking creativity, marketability and innovation.

This year the competition saw a record number of entries from 33 countries, representing the absolute best in packaging design from around the globe.

ALDI US’s Barissimo Passport series packaging was designed to convey vibrancy and flare as well as authentic sourcing in the far-flung locales of Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda. Trumpeting elephants, flapping Kingfishers and an intricately woven basket pattern were utilised to communicate brand’s new foray into specialty varieties, showcasing the uniqueness and personality of the single origin coffees. Already possessing a strong core-brand identity, the Barissimo Passport design also worked to distinguish the products within a new tier.

For Schuncks’ gold award, the packaging for premium brand Culinaria was created to provide an elevated yet approachable look for a range of products from ice cream to nuts. The Culinaria design strategy was to align all products and categories for easy customer recognition as Schnucks’ premium product tier, while not utilizing the expected black category cues. The key trait of Culinaria is “affordable indulgence” where consumers can have a top- quality product at a reasonable price. T

Equator’s redesigned label for Schnucks Snacking Nuts addressed a needed for easy access to information on multiple forms and variants of nuts (whole, pieces, salted, unsalted, dry roasted), while delivering a clear hierarchy of product. Impactful design meant consumers could quickly recognize what they were looking for, creating strong shelf presence with a light-hearted approach.

 For further details visit equator-design.com.