Iranian Packaging Designers Showcase

Iman Al Mozaffar : We should roll up our sleeves!

After greeting the participant, Iman Al-e Mozaffar, mentioned that: a seed was planted in 2012, which is now three years old, and I am excited and delighted to welcome all the designs received by secretariat department of this ceremony, which has caught the eye of many more graphic designers and studios: we had received 411 designs from 112 designers and published the annual packing book, then delivered our promise to introduce the young talent of this year in our news conference and show how this young person was supported and trained. Then we fulfilled our promises in research department by the assistance of protagonists such as Mr. Bahram Kalhornia, Mr. Amrollah Frahadi, Mr. Majid Abbasi, and Mrs. Kahvand and the others.

He mentioned that: ”we believe it is up to us, we should roll up our sleeves to make the preparations necessary and do something useful for our country and our profession and fulfill our duties.” After displaying a short movie about the process of holding research meetings, news conferences, and jury and decision making procedures, he invited Mr. Bahram Kalhornia to commence the ceremony with his speech.

Bahram Kalhornia: Daily packaging organizes our lives!

Bahram Kalhornia, professor at university, researcher, and a member of directing board of Iran’s Graphic designers syndicate, started his speech as following:

“Our friend mentioned that this ceremony is three years old, but somehow it is thirty and three hundred years old!

The great aspects, extensive growth and development is far too great to be understood by us. This event, without any support and backing, has developed into a ceremony that we long for every year. It is important. We want to know when and what the packing conveys, when it is going to give us something and when it shows that we reached somewhere. Participants in this ceremony are those who generally visit the galleries, peruse art, and visit museums. But people mostly see the packing!

Today, galleries stepped into supermarkets and megastores. Packing is the new evidence of expressing the meaning and humanity’s position globally, without any artist signing it or being hung on the wall as a piece of art! Packing is organizing our daily lives! From morning to midnight, they might come into our dreams and we dream about a fine packing!”

He added: ”I think about industrial revolution as the source of world’s new technical, printing, and cutting devices which founded the state-of-the art world revolution. We have seen the shadow later, but now we are also armed with these facilities and at the present time, packing is like an evidence of an idea or phenomenon carrying something inside. It always carries a notion, and shows something to us through its visual mechanism, shape, volume, and size. Packing talks and negotiates with us and is equipped with a communicative language. If this language is capable, if it is proper or improper, it shows are current situation”.

“this event is trying to amend the packing language! It tries to express notions and new ideals in packing! A fresh start in live is a new story. You visit galleries, but others won’t! however, they will experience some kind of aesthetics by the arrival of a new packing. They can imagine a new horizon for their lives. Packing carries the alphabet! It carries a language. Codes, signs, colors are blended together to create an expressive coherent system. Shortage of facilities and quality materials in these years, such as poor quality cartons, on one hand and universities’ lack of commitment to teach technical points to students caused them to be disqualified and inexperienced in field. Today’s packing represents the solution for the above mentioned. Packing event somehow establishes the bases of a new thinking method. Packing gives us the opportunity to do research. Do we have local packing? Then again, this issue is not mature enough and we do not possess historical tradition for it. There are no traditions to become the foundation of local packing. Do you assess foreign packing? Japanese packing is Japanese. French packing is French. Do we have the capability to think about our country’s traditions in order to organize the form and shape of the packing? Do customers accept this method of thinking? Customers do not accept innovation easily, designers hit a dead-end every now and then. Customers do not share the horizontal view of designers.

But this event brings all those together. This event broadens our minds  and shows us the current situation in this industry. If our current situation is either beautiful or disagreeable, we are responsible for it and this event struggles to create new figures of speech for the present and future situation of this language, so be certain of one fact: this event will build our future horizon for us.”

Iman Al Mozaffar thanked Mr. Kalhornia and mentioned that: we emphasize on research, and have started translating, compiling and localizing materials of two reference book about packing, one of which will be published in few months and the other is due for next year.” He said:” packing is important and a cultural concern, people deal with them on a daily basis. Packing connects with us, talks with us, and we buy the one that speaks our desires and attitudes. This events belongs to everyone in this industry, not one person, all designers or those whose are involved in the process of designing, production and printing. We hope that we can make it bigger, more comprehensive and international as time passes.” Then the invited Mr. Alireza Mostafazedeh, a member of advisors and jury committee, to come to the stage and give his speech.

Alireza Mostafazadeh: Do we distinguish a fine design and a ultra-realistic one?

“It is the hardest job in the world and I make this short: many designs that were received and assessed had tried to look foreign, when one looks at it for the first time, will not realize that the product is an Iranian one. So I raise this question: to what extent should we surrender to customer’s wishes? Manufacturers feel that the products are their offspring, therefore they are quite special; on the other hand, buyers judge the book by its cover. My question is not an ethical one, but is it beneficial for us or manufacturer that the packing’s quality is far better than the product itself? We should consider that even long term benefits of the manufacturer will not be fulfilled, hence I only ask of you: Shouldn’t we only show a beautiful product, not more? Since customer, manufactures, and us will not gain any benefit from that, accordingly we have to ponder upon it carefully.”

After Mostafazadeh’s speech, Iman Al-e Mozaffar reminded that an independent event will survive by the assistance of its supporters, and invited the supporters of this event to the stage in order to praise them with a certificate of appreciation including: Hoodis Pars Printing Complex, Babak Die making, Kamel Barchasb, Design vand Studio, Tarahane Farda, Arte Digital Printing, Nikoo Packaging, Vije Academy, Aban Book Publishers, Packging Art Magazine, Cake Studio, Tordak Food Industry, Shilla Chain Restaurants, and Pakban dairy industry along with Ali Rashidi and Majid Ababsi.

Afterwards, they displayed a short movie about the process of designing and printing this year’s poster, designed by BASTEHA young talent, Mr. Ali Ghoreyshi, and invited Mr. Amrollah Farhadi to read jury’s manifest on behalf of Mr. Bijan Jenab, the head of jury.

Amrollah Farhadi: if we do something, we consider it as our duty.

Amorallah farhadi mentioned that the manifest, written by Mr. Bijan Jenab, was published at the beginning of the book and he only highlights some of its important points. He also stated:” after the speeches hold by Mr. Kalhornia about the values of packing , and Mr. Mostafazadeh about the questions that we should ask ourselves, I will indicate some points of the manifest that do not discredit anybody’s’ work, but are a bit bitter. For example, it the middle of the first day of assessing the designs, after receiving many designs, Mr. Jenab, among others, was very confused and he asked: are we assessing Iranian design? Few of them had Persian writings and explanations. Then we decided that next year we will ask for the open design to assess the beauty and the correctness of Persian and English font, so that we could do our job better. The event, as any other, has its strengths and weaknesses, we as elders want to correct flaws and promote it. If we do something, it is our duty. I suppose that industries should support such an event with us and more than us, so we hope that happens in the future.” Mr.Farhadi emphasized on the importance of the market research by manufacturer and designer, as mentioned in the manifest; then he declared the strengths and weaknesses aft the designs assed by the jury and read the final lines of the manifest. Then, Iman Al-e Mozaffar invited the jury including Mr. Amrollah Farhadi, Mr. Majid Abbasi, Mr. Alireza Mostafazadeh and Mrs. Tahereh Mohebi Taban, university professor and designer; next he read the names of the winners and appreciated so they could receive their awards.

Appreciated: Ms.Maryam Rahimi, Ms.Neda Farshad, Mr. Meysam Sharif Nejad, Mr.Mahdi Motamedi Kia, and Mr.Mehdi Namazi.

Winners: Mr.Salim Salehi (First), Mr.Sadegh Bahrami (second), Mr.Hesam Shahidi (third), Ms.Maryam Rahimi (winner of jury’s special prize), Ms.Yekta Jebelli and Mr.Seyyed Mostafa Seyyed Ebrahimi (jury committee’s choice award), and Mr.Mohhamadreza Emadian Mehr (Secretary Choice award).

After granting the awards, Iman Al-e Mozaffar invited the manager of Taban Travel Agency to personally grant the special prize,” free travel to visit Istanbul Eurasia Printing and Packing Exhibition”, to the winners. Then all the participants received the year book of packing.