More than 300 guests attended the annual Pratt Institute Art of Packaging Award Gala at a private club in Manhattan on April 30, 2013. The gala, which attracts the top-tier of New York City's multi-billion dollar cosmetics industry, supports the Marc Rosen Scholarship and Education Fund for Packaging by Design and raises scholarship funds for graduating package design students at Pratt. It is the only scholarship in the world available to college students looking to pursue careers in cosmetics and package design. The glamorous black-tie event raised $350,000 in 2013 and has raised more than $3.5 million over the last 24 years.
The Art of Packaging Award, which is presented each year to a beauty/cosmetics company that has excelled in the art form, was awarded to the Aramis & Designer Fragrances division of The Estée Lauder Companies. Veronique Gabai Pinsky, global brand president of The Estée Lauder Companies' Aramis & Designer Fragrances, BeautyBank, and IdeaBank divisions, accepted the award from Trey Laird, chief executive and creative officer of Laird+Partners.
Gabai Pinsky accepted the award on behalf of the company and spoke about the inspiration of great design. She noted that the initial success of a product is “linked to the creative expression” of the brand through design. She encouraged Pratt communications and package design students to “stay hungry for the thrill of discovery and creative process.”
At Pratt, Rosen teaches a course on cosmetic and fragrance package design, which is the only one of its kind in the world. As part of the course, students select a floral, green, or Oriental fragrance. They name the fragrance and design a perfume bottle from sketch to clay form to prototype along with a scent card, box, shopping bag, and advertisement. This year's student scholarship winners include:
—Kyle Calvert (Illinois): Calvert designed a modern, oval-shaped bottle using silver and pink for a calming floral scent that he named “Serene.”
—Vivi Feng (China): Feng's scent, which she named “Vertigo,” was influenced by the mystery and allure of the classic Alfred Hitchcock film of the same name and Art Deco style; the bottle was a faceted design inspired by origami.
—Alexandra Haime (Florida): Haime's work—for an Oriental scent she named “Kahlia”—was inspired by the idea of clarity and replicated the form of natural quartz crystal.
—Kashfia Rahman (Bangladesh): Rahman chose a green scent, which she named “Belle Journee,” and utilized a green leaf motif that translated the light scent into a graceful design.
Each winner's fragrance package design work was on display in the lobby of the event venue.
Special guests at the Art of Packaging Award Gala included Marc Rosen, award-winning designer and Pratt alumnus, Trustee, and faculty member; Arlene Dahl, actress; Catherine Malandrino, fashion designer; Carol Alt, supermodel and skin-care entrepreneur; Mark Ackermann, president and CEO, Lighthouse International; Ian Jarvis, actor; Pratt President Thomas F. Schutte and his wife, Tess; Bruce Gitlin, chair, Pratt Institute Board of Trustees; Juliana Terian, Pratt Trustee and Rallye Motors chairwoman; Peter Barna, provost, Pratt Institute; Donald Stannard, jewelry designer; Victor Luis, president, Coach; and Ian Bickley, president, Coach International.
Special guests from the cosmetics and package design industry included Elizabeth Musmanno, president, The Fragrance Foundation; Carlotta Jacobson, president, Cosmetic Executive Women; Jerry Vittoria, president of fragrances, Firmenich; Theo Spilka, vice president, Firmenich; Henry Renella, senior vice president, global packaging development, Estée Lauder; John Downey, vice president tech driven supplier innovation, Estée Lauder; Peter Acerra, president/CEO, SGD North America; Felix Mayr-Harting, executive vice president, Fine Fragrance Global, Givaudan; Nicholas Mirzayantz, group president, International Fragrance & Flavors; Robert Aldrich, president and CEO North America, Ermenegildo Zegna; Luc Malfait, president, Takasago Europe; Hisaya Fujiwara, president, Takasago USA; and Michael Mane, president, Michael Mane.
The Pratt program in which Rosen teaches—Communications and Package Design—is ranked as one of the top graduate graphic design programs in the country by U.S. News and World Report and collegecrunch.org.
Image (from left to right): Alexandra Haime, Kashfia Rahman, Marc Rosen, Veronique Gabai Pinsky, Vivi Feng, and Kyle Calvert at the annual Pratt Institute Art of Packaging Award Gala. Image Credit: Clint Spaulding/Patrick McMullan Company.
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Amy Aronoff at 718-636-3554 or press@pratt.edu