GRACE OF WASTE – THE FUROSHIKI THAT CLEANS OCEANS

Short List
TitleGRACE OF WASTE – THE FUROSHIKI THAT CLEANS OCEANS
BrandPETER SCHMIDT GROUP
Product/ServiceWRAPPING CLOTH
Category B04. Packaging Design
Entrant PETER SCHMIDT GROUP Hamburg, GERMANY
Idea Creation PETER SCHMIDT GROUP Hamburg, GERMANY
Production PETER SCHMIDT GROUP Hamburg, GERMANY
Post Production PETER SCHMIDT GROUP Hamburg, GERMANY
Credits
Name Company Position
Norbert Möller Peter Schmidt Group Executive Creative Director
Ulrich Aldinger Peter Schmidt Group Creative Director
Shingo Inoue Peter Schmidt Group Japan Representative
Sven Rieckmann Peter Schmidt Group Creative Director
David Driscoll Peter Schmidt Group Senior Designer
Regina Huber Peter Schmidt Group Designer
Felix Koch Peter Schmidt Group Designer
Sophie Küppers Peter Schmidt Group Designer
Marie Scheffzük Peter Schmidt Group Designer
Laura Ullmann Peter Schmidt Group Designer
Kyonosuke Takayasu Peter Schmidt Group Illustrator
Tobias Gagelmann Peter Schmidt Group Head of Production
Tobias Wördekemper Peter Schmidt Group Producer
David Gottschalk Peter Schmidt Group Senior Project Manager
Hana Licina Peter Schmidt Group Copywriter
Guido Schröpel Peter Schmidt Group Marketing Manager

Cultural / Context information for the jury

A furoshiki is a traditional Japanese wrapping cloth that can be passed on again and again. It can be reused as a gift wrap – or for various other functions. From a simple grocery bag to a refined knotted handbag: Furoshiki are an entertaining challenge to our own creativity. The orientation towards Japanese traditions is closely linked to our self-image as an agency: Through our office in Tokyo and long-standing business relationships with clients in Japan, we feel a close affinity to the Japanese culture. The result of this is a mutual inspiration. We asked ourselves if we could make the sustainable Japanese way of gift wrapping popular in Germany. But our enthusiasm for Japan was not limited to the medium alone but also to its design: We oriented ourselves to traditional formats and printing techniques and even collaborated with a popular Japanese illustrator.

Tell the jury about the art direction.

Around 40% of the plastic produced worldwide is needed for packaging and is usually only used once. It often ends up as waste in the world's oceans, where it collects to form islands of trash. Each individual can help alleviate this situation by recycling and avoiding waste. To raise awareness for this issue, we designed a special product our business partners can use to set an example. Our furoshiki helps reduce waste twice over, because it is made of recycled ocean plastic. Upon closer inspection, its printed design illustrates the location of garbage patches in the world's oceans. This information is passed on to a new recipient each time the cloth is reused. For the outer packaging, we used a special paper made from seaweed, a rapidly renewable and almost inexhaustible raw material. We also relied on a Japanese printing process called risography that uses soya oil and water-based paints.