Where next for Student Design?

By: Trademagazin editor Date: 2024. 04. 25. 10:58

In the morning of 5 March, there was a POPAI international meeting in pavilion A of the Sirha Budapest 2024 trade fair, where participants discussed the possibilities of expanding the student design competition locally and globally.

This article is available for reading in Trade magazin 2024/4

The meeting was initiated by the Hungarian POPAI organisation after it was shocked to learn the Student Design category has been removed from the national winner categories of Shop! Global Awards.

A cosy dinner on the Spoon restaurant boat. At the table with the Student working group: Ágnes Csiby, Leo van de Polder, Ildikó Kátai, Martin Kindom and his wife, Phil Day, Attila Kolonics, Petr Šimek

The Hungarian way

Ildikó Kátai, general secretary of POPAI was the first presenter at the meeting, talking about the Hungarian situation. Her guest was Réka Nagy, customer marketing manager of Essity, who gave an insight into the perspectives, opportunities and challenges on the brand side. It was the Zewa brand that launched the first student design competition in 2018, in cooperation with the Budapest University of Technology. Following Zewa PICK, Heineken and this year Coca-Cola HBC were the theme sponsors for the POP tools to be designed.

Czech and English traditions

Petr Simek, president of the Czech and Slovak POPAI organisation told: for 19 years they have organised student competition in campaign, 2D and 3D categories for secondary and higher education students. Phil Day and Martin Kindom, the country manager and the director general of POPAI UK&Ireland confirmed that the hope of getting a good job is the main motivation for the student contestants. Leo van de Polder, Shop! Association’s global development director pointed out that currently 9 organisations – Brazil, Czech Republic, France, Japan, East Asia, Hungary, Russia, UK&Ireland, USA – have a student competition and there are plans to launch in Germany and Australia. At the end of the meeting the working group decided to prepare a strategic summary and a draft scenario, to help the hesitant organisations to get involved in the student competition movement.

Similarities and differences in the organisation of national student competitions and the possibilities for international expansion were discussed at the meeting. Participants, front row from left to right: Ágnes Csiby – POPAI Hu, Réka Nagy – Essity, Ildikó Kátai – POPAI Hu. Second row from left to right: Petr Šimek POPAI CE, Martin Kindom POPAI UK&Ireland, Leo van de Polder Shop! Association, Phil Day POPAI UK&Ireland

The big competition

The international parent organisation of POPAI Hungary is the Shop! Association. Since 2010 it has run a POP competition for the winners of national POP competitions called Global Awards. In order to attract the next generation of creative talent, the Global Awards also included a Student Design category for the first time in 2019, where a Hungarian winner was announced, just like in 2020 and 2021.