See and touch advanced solutions. Get inspired by visionary concepts. Meet packaging experts to learn about future challenges & opportunities. In one single location you will embrace the future of packaging design & production: The forum covers various printing technologies and packaging types for different markets and welcomes brand owners, designers, material suppliers, converters and all other experts of the packaging industry!
Young design talents for packaging
touchpoint packaging university partners
Innovative products and packaging design are needed to meet the needs of the next generation of consumers!
Under the guidance and patronage of the European brand & packaging design association the drupa touchpoint packaging initiative has joined forces with design schools in Italy and the Netherlands. In the past months, teams of young design talents have been developing ideas for future products and corresponding brand & packaging design concepts. Their work had to meet specific industry standards as precondition for touchpoint packaging partner companies to produce real packs for the exhibition during drupa 2020.
Cooperation with NABA
NABA, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, is an education Academy focusing on arts and design: it is the largest private Academy in Italy, and the first one to have been recognized by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR), back in 1980. As a recognized Academy, NABA offers academic diplomas equivalent to first and second level university degrees in the fields of design, fashion design, graphics and communication, multimedia arts, set design, and visual arts. The Academy was founded in Milan in 1980 upon the private initiative of Ausonio Zappa, Guido Ballo and Gianni Colombo. NABA was selected by Frame and included in the Masterclass Frame Guide to the 30 World’s Leading Graduate Design, Architecture and Fashion Schools, by Domus Magazine as one of Europe’s Top 100 schools of Architecture and Design.Between January and June 2019 more than 200 hundred students have been working in teams on the drupa touchpoint packaging challenge. In total, 10 projects have been carried out. The winning designs will be produced as mock-ups or as a small series by the industry partners of the initiative. On the 29th of November 2019 Kim Dröge, drupa Senior Project Manager, and Rob Vermeulen, epda Board Member responsible for the drupa touchpoint packaging cooperation with NABA, awarded the student winners at NABA design school in Milan.
advanced packaging solutions
touchpoint packaging exhibits
See and touch packs produced for the touchpoint packaging exhibition during drupa to prove state-of-the-art packaging solutions!
Concrete packaging exhibits will present answers to prevailing and emerging trends in packaging resulting from demographic change, developments in human interactions and environmental concerns. A major part of these packs is the output of joint ventures between Partners of drupa touchpoint packaging throughout the packaging supply chain, which have been collaborating since the initiative started in 2018. Young talents of design schools from Italy and The Netherlands have contributed with their ideas to more than 10 projects.
presentations and discussions
touchpoint packaging program
Listen to trend experts and professionals from the packaging design and production industry to learn about their visions of future opportunities and challenges in packaging!
The daily touchpoint packaging conference program offers keynotes, panel discussions, guided visits through the forum and offers plenty of networking opportunities. Talks will inform about latest innovations and highlight touchpoint packaging exhibits. They will provide inspiration from best practices and visions for future packaging inviting you to join the discussion in a networking atmosphere.
Packaging trends
touchpoint packaging key topics
| Demography – More singles. More elderly. More city dwellers. Two thirds of all mankind will soon be living in towns and cities. Urban retailers are supplying more and more single and senior households. Customers often make purchases on the fly. Bulk packs are out of place here. Neat portions make shopping manageable and transportable and ensure that foods do not spoil once opened. Resealable packaging keeps things fresh and ensures a long shelf life and quality. What’s more, customers are much savvier in our media society. They read the information on the packaging and verify this in an app or on the Internet. The health-care sector in particular needs transparency: new packaging concepts are indispensable wherever an aging population meets digital health portals and trends such as personalized medicine. The trend towards urbanization has a further dimension for packaging designers. City-dwellers live with a surplus of information, and often a surplus of goods too. Creative packaging design attracts attention in saturated markets. Personalization, customization as well as differently packaged versions of a product appeal to different target audiences at the point of sale – smoothing the way to commercial success. |
| Technology – More speed. More connectivity. More variety. The pace of innovations is speeding up. Ideas for products are finding their way to customer faster than ever before thanks to short distribution channels on the Internet and global trade routes. This places some high demands on packaging: Protection against damage in transit. Transport routes have to be made accountable per track & check. Protection against forgery has to be guaranteed. Because the traditional bonds of trust that evolve between manufacturers, dealers and customers no longer exist in e-commerce. Smart packaging will become the key to verify the authenticity of products. To envelop their validity. The printed information serves as orientation. Packaging thus becomes a key interface between online trade and the real world. The way packaging is manufactured will also change. Automated processes will automatically adjust the size of boxes to the packaged products, guarantee the color management that is so important for brand owners and help change the design of the packaging in line with seasonal marketing campaigns. Digital and analogue printing techniques will complement each other perfectly. Automated packaging workflows also offer the flexibility needed for Industry 4.0 and raise the interaction between manufacturers and customers to a new level. |
| Environment – More activity. More responsibility. More sustainability. Modern packaging faces up to the demands of the sustainable society. 1.2 billion tons of food still perishes every year on its way to customers. Innumerable products are scrapped unused following damage during transit. Packaging reduces this waste of resources by between 20 and 70 percent depending on the product. Carefully considered packaging designs are needed so that these do not become a burden on the environment themselves. Recycling has to be taken into account during the design phase and packaging materials have to be chosen very carefully. Metal, cardboard, glass or plastics differ in terms of weight, costs, durability or sensitivity to water and light. Packaging designers decide which material is best for a specific purpose based on the length of the transport routes, climatic conditions or the life span of the packaging. They are constantly on the look-out for innovative material and design ideas. These can be recyclable packaging, upcycling ideas or biodegradable materials. Intelligent packaging is part of the solution. What’s important here is that the designers and manufacturers think the environmental aspects through to the end for every new packaging. |
Everything you can discover at the touchpoint packaging forum during drupa relates to the following 7 key topics as main packaging trends.
7 key topics
| Sustainability and Circular Economy Packaging is generating waste. 40% of plastic production is for packaging production. Consumers’ complaints are growing. Brand owners are searching for new ways to pack and distribute their goods. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle are on every brand owner’s agenda. Better design, new materials and shifting plastic to carton will contribute to the expected and necessary circular economy. At drupa touchpoint packaging you will see innovations focused on increasing sustainability. |
| Time-to-market & Supply chain The rise of the digital economy and new consumer behavior requires brand owners to reduce their time-to-market. The current supply networks need to be redesigned for more proximity to the consumers and the ability to adjust production parameters quickly. Agility and flexibility are required from start to finish. At drupa touchpoint packaging you will see innovations aiming to effectively reduce the time-to-market. |
| Customization & Personalization Globalization has transformed customer behaviors. Everyone expects to be unique. Brand owners understand that shoppers are even willing to pay more for a personalized product. The well-known Coke Campaign has made its mark. Mass or late stage customization is now part of the capabilities required by brand owners and impacting packaging production. At drupa touchpoint packaging you will discover new technologies that are helping converters to better manage such challenges. |
| Connected consumers & E-Commerce In 2021, more than 15% of total retail will be e-commerce. This new distribution channel is changing the way packaging is designed and produced. It requires rethinking the entire supply chain. In parallel, new digital technologies enable consumers to interact with products using their smart phone as a link between the real world and the virtual space with access to a multitude of information. At drupa touchpoint packaging you will discover how easily you can turn your products into the Internet of Things. |
| Brand Integrity & Safety Product counterfeiting represents more than 7% of retail market value. Food and product safety is a major expectation of all consumers worldwide. Brand owners want to be able to track & trace their production with confidence. Packaging plays a major role in preventing the creation of copies and enabling authentication throughout the entire supply chain. At drupa touchpoint packaging you will discover a complete portfolio of cost effective and easy to deploy security and brand protection solutions. |
| Quality & Colour Control This seems to be one of most pervasive topics for packaging converters. Mistakes and errors are becoming unacceptable as they impact brand image and profitability. Close loop inspection systems can control the entire production from printing to cutting and folding-gluing. The Extended Color Gamut (ECG) process enables packaging printing to be repeatable and independent from the press operators. Come, see and touch zero fault packaging production at drupa touchpoint packaging. |
| Branding & Design What is a brand? A brand is a promise. In creating a brand, or “branding,” you have to manage the effect that your product or service is having on the customer. The design of any goods is memorable and some have become iconic. Packaging is one of the most important elements for a brand and its role is growing. At drupa touchpoint packaging designers will discover how new digital technologies can expand their creativity. This will inspire them to create the most distinctive branding elements, for the consumer to build loyalty and trust. |
