The Choices of Packaging

The Choices of Packaging. Technical abilities and industrial strategies for the optimization of the weaving factory is the title of the meeting dedicated to the integration between the technical culture and planning in the packaging sector, organized by the Design Center, Bologna in collaboration with the Italian Packing Institute in the Magna classroom of the Bologna Academy of Fine Arts on June 17th, 2008; the meeting on the 17th was also preceded the day before by a workshop for students on the 16th.

Packaging today is at a crossroads, facing the many challenges tied to the prominent current issues of today (from the sustainability of the environment to the accessibility of the product to the public), which add to those questions that are already established but evolving with time. From the relation with marketing, to the strategic value of the brand, to the persistent technological implementation.

Two central points were emphasized across the spectrum of two discussions: the logic of the weaving factory that involves different interlocutors in a unique process, from the producer of materials and machines to the commercial businesses passing for constructors of packaging and designers, and the environmental compatibility, with the problems of recycling and functionality, those inherent in the demand of the population of which the demographic profile has changed sensibly. Presentation participants included: Raffaele Bombardieri (Granarolo), Anna Cottone (University of Palermo), Stefano Lavorini (Italy Packaging), Adriano Falconi (PackagingReview), Claudia Chiozzotto (Altroconsumo), Piero Bruseschi (IFAP), Giancarlo Longhi (Conai) and several others (see enclosed program).

The two conferences offer contextual scenarios: that of Marco Sachet, Director of the Italian Packaging Institute, and of Roger Botti, Creative Director of the Robilant Associates. The program ends with a series of workshops for students of various faculties, held on the 16th under the guidance of the designers, Avril Accolla, Fabio Bignardi eSonia Pedrazzini, dedicated to the communication of technical values of packaging (conservation, simplicity, accessibility) and a series of shows ofthe elaborate projects of Italian vocational institutes such as: Polytechnic,European Institute of Design, NABA (Milan); The Academy of Fine Arts (Bologna);ISIA (Faenza); Department of Design, University of Palermo; among others.

The Choices of Packaging is the inaugural public representation of the newly created Design Center Bologna, the first structure of its kind in Italy, formulated from the mind of the Bologna Academy of Fine Arts with the support of the Corporate Department of the Emilia Romagna Authority, and by contributions from the Foundation of Savings and Loans in Bologna, dedicated to supplying economic aid to businesses and professionals across the scope of design, as set by the model of the Anglo-Saxon and Central European design center, exemplified by the Design Council of London.

Profiles
Design Center Bologna is a project of the Bologna Academy of Fine Arts, financed by the Corporate Department of the Emilia Romagna Authority, and by contributions from the Foundation of Savings and Loans of Bologna, that helps businesses and professionals with goals of economic implementation through instruments of design, across consulting, management of data-bases, pilot projects, research into concepts and professional updates on developments in various fields.
The Italian Packaging Institute is the meeting point for information, formation, and exchange between who produces and who uses packaging in Italy. It in fact picks producers of materials and machines for packaging, conversion, and final businesses users.
Conai, National Packaging Consortium, which is a private non-profit consortium consisting of producers and packaging users that work on the recuperation and recycling of packaging materials in accordance with European legislation.
Altroconsumo is an association that is independent of consumers, with 300,000 members and 35 years of activity, which protects the interests and rights of the consumer in regards to information, consultation, and representation taken at the institutions.

Bologna, May 16th, 2008