DTU student Jintian Zhang has rethought yoghurt packaging—now he has won the prestigious iF Design Award 2017 for his design.
By Mie Borggren Winther
Like so many other good ideas, Jintian Zhang’s yoghurt packaging—StrawGhurt—is the result of laziness. He was annoyed by having to wash up spoons after eating yoghurt from the small plastic cartons, and the idea popped into his head when he saw some men playing the accordion. Now, his design has won an award for best ‘Professional Concept’.
“I thought I might be able to do something about the problem myself, as I’m doing my master’s in Design and Innovation. When I saw the folds in the accordion, I thought it could be used to design the yoghurt carton—and I immediately wrote down my idea.”
The result was a yoghurt carton with a straw which can be compressed as it is being emptied. This makes it possible to squeeze out every last drop of yoghurt without leaving anything behind.
Patented design
The idea of consuming yoghurt through a straw might sound like an alternative combination to Danes. We are used to removing the film from the carton lid and eating the yoghurt with a spoon. But in China where Jintian Zhang is from, people normally use a straw, and the yoghurt is also more liquid and does not contain pieces of fruit, which would block the narrow straw.
The method is also used in other countries and continents. Jintian Zhang’s design has been patented, and he hopes it will be put into production some day. The idea has, however, not been sold—yet.
“It’s a matter of timing,” he says calmly.
No resting on his laurels
The idea for StrawGhurt was submitted to the prestigious German design competition iF Design Award 2017, and Jintian Zhang received a call on 1 February informing him that he had won the ‘Professional Concept’ category, and that the certificate would be presented to him at a ceremony in Munich on 19 March.
“Receiving such an award is a confidence booster—it’s a sign of recognition that I’m good at what I do,” says Jintian Zhang, who has previously participated in the competition, but without winning.
Despite the major victory, however, 24-year-old Jintian Zhang is not resting on his laurels.
“It simply means that I need to work even harder now because people are expecting things of me,” he says. “To win the iF gold award is one of the greatest achievements in this business”, and that is what he is aiming for.
“I prefer to be under pressure so that I can continue to develop and become better.”
Read more about StrawGhurt here: http://bit.ly/2mw5S8a