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Smart cartonboard speedster
- Carton Converter: Cartondruck
- Brand Owner: Smart
- Structural Designer: Sarah Illenberger
- Graphic Designer: Sarah Illenberger
- Cartonboard Manufacturer: Gmund
- Pro Carton Young Designers Award
Many things have been made of cartonboard, but never a car. An innovative company in Germany has now made the impossible come true: a Smart was fitted with a bodywork and interior made of cartonboard. The car was the absolute sensation at the Luxe Pack in Monaco. “We were looking for a real challenge to show what can be done with cartons. After long discussions we decided to attempt replacing the main elements of a Smart with cartons“ said Steffen Schnizer, CEO at CD Cartondruck. Smart were immediately convinced by the idea and provided a ”fortwo“ as well as all the necessary CAD plans. The individual parts were made of recycling cartonboard made by the Gmund company. The Berlin design artist Sarah Illenberger looked after the design. The main challenge was, that cartons had to replace the main elements of the car while maintaining structural integrity. All plastic components were made of cartonboard, and the car is fully functional. In total, over 7,000 cartons in four different shades of green were used. Not only was the external bodywork composed of thousands of cartons, even the rear-view and external mirrors, rims, dashboard and floor mats of the spectacular and unique car were made of cartonboard.
Jury Comments
The Chairman of the Jury had seen an article about this and drew it to the attention of the other Judges. Like him, they agreed that it was an astonishing example of creativity, design and innovation which at the same time demonstrated in a very clear way what can be achieved with cartons. It was, they felt, a perfect example to demonstrate the creativity that is possible with cartonboard and it would attract great attention. They asked if a Special Award was possible in view of the excellence of this concept which through sheer innovative thinking and great skill had been realised.