ICPF Awards the Packaging Design Program

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

The International Corrugated Packaging Foundation (ICPF) has awarded the Art & Art History Department packaging design program $150,00 to be used for technology improvements, including equipment and computers, as well as furniture, materials, adjunct faculty stipends, and other resources to enhance the existing CORRPRO (corrugated prototype design) and CAD production lab, and packaging design classroom at UTA.

Packaging and 3-D CAD courses offered within the visual communication design area introduce students to a curriculum that focuses on design, materials, performance, testing and sustainability of packaging products. The CORRPRO lab, which was initially made possible in 2012 through a partnership with ICPF, has provided students with the structural design software and a computer-aided design table to produce significant packaging solutions for use in the marketplace.

Each semester, students work as individuals and collaborate in teams to develop innovative solutions to real-world packaging issues including the design and construction of a retail floor stand display, food & beverage shippers, and retail shelf displays. These dimensional products and packaging solutions explore the relationship between conceptual thinking, structural design, brand development and consumer behavior.

The improvements to the facilities are scheduled to take place over a three- year period, with the 1st phase being the acquisition of large format flatbed printer which is scheduled for installation prior to the fall 2019 semester. This equipment will allow for printing directly onto the corrugated material and paperboard that is then moved directly to the cutting machine. In the past, that part of the process had to be outsourced. Once the new printer is in place, students will be able to complete the entire design and fabrication process in-house, which is an enormous benefit to their career skillset acquisition.

Ben Dolezal, professor of visual communication design and coordinator of the packaging design initiative says, “This award will provide students with the opportunity to increase their exposure to industry standard technology and software. This will definitely make them more attractive to potential employers and more marketable in their post academic careers. We would like to thank ICPF for their continuing support of our students and our program”