Student Starpack

STARPACK STUDENTS AWARDS 

£600 top cash prize for the winner 

Design students looking to expand their design portfolio can enter the MPMA ‘Metal Pack for Biscuits‘ category of the Starpack Student Awards with a chance to win the £600 top prize. 

Established in 1964, the Starpack Student Awards is organised by the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (ioM3).   

The competition challenges students to submit design solutions to problems set by brand-leading FMCG companies, design agencies and manufacturers. Each year, MPMA sponsors a dedicated brief celebrating the creativity and versatility of metal packaging.   

The competition is open to students studying a wide range of Higher Education courses from those with an emphasis on graphics to courses concerned with structural and product design as well as materials and technology students. 

For the 2025 competition, MPMA has tasked students to design and develop a metal pack to hold biscuits; aimed at high-end stores specialising in quality foods, giftware and souvenir packs such as those you might find at in airport duty free store. 

Students should focus on the pack; it can be for one variety or a selection of biscuits. It can be any shape or size (within reason!), should showcase the great possibilities in metal, what stunning designs and finishes can be achieved with metal; be eye catching and have real shelf appeal. 

The winning design will receive a £600 cash prize, courtesy of MPMA. Prizes may also be awarded to runner-up designs at the judges’ discretion. 

The Starpack Students Awards 2025 competition is now open to enter. The deadline is 31 March 2025. 

For more details of the MPMA brief visit Brief F: Metal Pack for Biscuits. 

To find out more about the 2024 brief and the award-winning pack read on … 

2024 – Unique shaping and intricate design produced standout entries 

Design students were invited to design a luxury promotional metal pack to hold a 100ml bottle of perfume, aftershave, or cologne. Nottingham Trent University product design student, Matt Ledger, combined elegance, and practicality to create a showstopping winning entry and scoop the top prize of £600 from category sponsor, MPMA, in the Starpack Students Awards 2024 organised by IoM3.  

Matt created a fictitious brand name for his winning design, ‘Verdure’, which represents ‘an essence of flourishing vegetation’, and a cleverly designed pack recognising both elegance and environmental consciousness.  

The striking green coloured tin incorporates sophisticated design elements, such as embossing and an eye-catching ribbed element, which help create stand out shelf appeal. Regardless of the contents, the tin itself is a unique design which would have a much-extended life as a beautiful tin in its own right.  

William Stenning from Nottingham Trent University was awarded runner up with ‘Aegir Voyager’, a creative and unique ship design using the cologne bottle as the ‘sail’ and the inspired by the Norse God of the sea ‘Aegir’.  

Highly Commended awards were made to Rahat Rai from Ravensbourne University, London, with his pack ‘Cheri’, Adam Shrewsbury from Loughborough University with his pack ‘Hampshire’; and Nivedh Sujith from Nottingham Trent University with his pack ‘Eclissi del Cuore’.   

MPMA judges, Debbie Clements and Jason Galley; plus Corrina Korrubel and Mark Hurst, both designers at Eviosys; and Graham Smith, TALA; examined 19 entries from universities and colleges.   

Jason Galley, MPMA’s Director and Chief Executive, commented:  

“Specialty packaging brings out the best in innovation spanning design, use of different finishes, print techniques, and shaping. This year, Matt’s design blew us away with its intricate and carefully thought-out shaping and gave us a concept which was uniquely his own. Every aspect of the design was meticulously considered, leaving a lasting impression.  

“Seeing so many fantastic entries from different universities across not just the UK but the world has been inspirational, and we can’t wait to see the entries for next year!”