Cal Poly Students Win National Design Competition by Rebranding a Local Small Restaurant
After a year of research and development, a team of Cal Poly students won first place in the Phoenix Challenge, a national competition where students help small businesses market and rebrand through sustainable packaging design and flexographic printing.
This year’s theme was sustainable packaging for sustainable business, and the team partnered with Bing’s Bao Buns, a small, San Luis Obispo-based restaurant, to redesign their packaging. Five graphic communication students and a consumer packaging concentration student developed and designed both a single and three-pack bao bun carrier and a kimchi jar label to help the business target customers and expand to new demographics.
As part of the Flexographic Trade Association’s annual contest, the team spent the last academic year creating concepts, conducting market research, interviewing industry experts, surveying targeted demographics, iterating structures and designs, and printing on the flexo press in the Graphic Communcation Department’s lab for prototyping. Finally, they presented the works and the prototypes to a group of judges from the flexographic printing industry.
Graphic communication student Umika Kuroda,
consumer packaging concentration student Claire Schatz,
graphic communication students Alex Woon, J
asmine Lee, Jacob Sterrett, and Sydney Doyle.
The students, Umika Kuroda, Claire Schatz, Alex Woon, Jasmine Lee, Jacob Sterrett and Sydney Doyle, took first place against teams from across the U.S.
“It was great to apply what we learn in classes to help solve a branding and sustainability problem with a real-life customer,” Kuroda said.
“Each team member had a specific area they were responsible for – concept, graphics, research and execution, but we all worked together for a cohesive solution,” Sterrett said.
“I appreciated how involved we all were from ideation to execution, and learning the intricacies of how flexography can be a great solution for reproducing branding on various substrates,” said team lead Jasmine Lee. “We formulated inks to match across different packaging materials and were able to delight the customer with our choices.”
The team considered sustainability and accessibility while developing the packaging and labels. The bao bun boxes’ colors were chosen to be visible to those with color blindness, and their construction was specifically designed to use the minimum amount of glue possible while allowing the maximum number of boxes to be cut from the same sheet of folding carton board. The boxes were made of recyclable coated paper and printed with water-based ink, to further reduce environmental impact and safety.
Custom packaging design for local business
Bing’s Bao Buns in San Luis Obispo, CA
The team also designed a custom label for the business’ house made kimchi. The labels offer enhanced branding, reduced manufacturing costs with more efficient production, and offer a safety measure: consumers will know the jar is unopened if the label is intact.
“The Phoenix Challenge competition not only provides an opportunity for students to showcase Learn by Doing problem solving techniques in the industry but provides opportunities for students to professionally present findings to industry professionals and network,” Graphic Communication Department Chair Colleen Twomey said. “It’s incredible to see how this yearlong project culminates in some creative solutions for a local business, and offers students experiences to apply skills in a real-world environment.”
Dina Vees, associate professor in the Graphic Communication Department, advised the students for this year’s competition.
“Every year, the competition is different. Observing the students uncover problems that they solve is so gratifying,” Vees said. “They truly immerse themselves in applying what they are learning in our classrooms and are able to get a “real life” experience out of it. It’s fantastic!”