the front

For the past several years, students in Lorrie Frear’s class at RIT have participated in a packaging design project in collaboration with ChaseDesign. Students break into teams and compete to create the best packaging for an actual product with ChaseDesign acting as the client and selecting a winner. The project helps give graphic and industrial design students real-world experience, along with feedback from professional designers. 

This year, four teams of students had approximately four weeks to complete packaging designs for a trio of CBD products. To make the project as realistic as possible, they had an original check-in with ChaseDesign and a video chat prior to their final pitch. They then put together detailed presentations explaining why they landed on their decisions for branding, packaging, and merchandising. They also shared prototypes of their designs and received feedback from professional designers, including Doug Whitehouse, former Vice President of ChaseDesign. 

The winning team, The Meaders, had packaging that was the closest to production-ready and designed with the shelf in mind. They received a $75 gift card to Lovin’ Cup, but more importantly, they received invaluable feedback from a team that creates packaging for top brands like iRobot, Intuit, and Nespresso. 

Congratulations to all the teams that participated in this year’s project! We can’t wait to see the designs you’ll create throughout your careers!