LEONHARD KURZ captures the zeitgeist and presents sustainable designs at LUXE PACK Monaco

Fürth/Germany, September 21, 2021: Striking, creative, and contemporary: LUXE PACK Monaco, which takes place from September 27 to 29, focuses on how products can be presented even better through innovative packaging design, without losing sight of sustainability. LEONHARD KURZ, an international expert in coating and surface finishing, once again uses the trade fair to impressively present new ideas, trends, and sustainable solutions for the packaging industry.

“A special highlight of our trade fair presentation this year is once again our successful BOXES concept, which allows us to visually clarify and experience the current social trends,” says senior designer Julia König from the KURZ trend team, who has been working with a trend agency to explore the zeitgeist and the current issues faced by society. The results of this research are four topics that have been visually translated into an innovative packaging concept and will be presented for the first time at LUXE PACK. This is an approach that has proven itself over many years and has not only inspired visitors to the KURZ trade fair stand: KURZ has already received the Red Dot Award in the Packaging Design category twice for its packaging collections from previous years, which were also presented in the form of eye-catchingly designed boxes.

Finished boxes make trends tangible

In 2021, the BOXES packaging concept also includes an elaborately decorated paper box for each trend theme, which serves as tangible inspiration for designers, marketing experts, and brand owners. “We are presenting eight new colors – for example the harmonious Orange Matter, the clear and bold Basic Blue, and the energetic Defiant Pink – as well as two diffractive designs for our LIGHT LINE® hot-stamping product series,” explains Julia König. “In addition, the four boxes are joined together by an innovative outer packaging in a shipping box look.”

With these boxes, as well as the many other products and solutions that will be presented at the trade fair, KURZ makes it very clear that sustainability and finishing are not mutually exclusive. “An environmentally friendly concept is more than ever a basic requirement for packaging design. For this reason, this year we’ve paid even more attention than before to saving as much material as possible and working in a very reduced manner,” emphasizes the designer. “That’s why the new collection has also done away with the magnetic closure and the supplementary booklet, for example. Information about the trends can now be found on the inside of the boxes instead.”

What is Generation Z concerned about?

Current trends continue to be strongly influenced by Generation Z, i.e. those born between 1997 and 2010. Here, the responsible KURZ team was primarily able to determine a major impact of the pandemic and the social change we are currently experiencing, which is also reflected in the four themes of the packaging concept. The first trend – “New Intimacy: Doors Wide Shut” – is primarily based on the desire for a safe place for privacy and intimacy, but without being completely separate from other people. Topic number two addresses the DIY idea, which is also becoming increasingly important in the pandemic, and is called “Beautiful Dilettante: Acting With Passion”. Julia König explains, “An amateur approach and hobby character play a major role here. Perfectionism isn't all that important anymore – it’s more about living out a passion, trying things out and doing things ‘just this once’ without wanting to devalue the result.” The third box, entitled “Planet of Youth: Whatever, just be”, deals with the conflict that, above all, the 14-16-year-old age group finds itself in. “We have two opposing poles here,” says Julia König. "On the one hand, young people who are on the threshold of becoming adults want to break out and gain experience. However, this is often accompanied by a great deal of uncertainty, which is also publicly shared and discussed.” With the fourth theme “Evolve! Morphing into a new age”, KURZ shows its devotion to nature, which is seen as a role model, but can also be changed by human hands. KURZ makes the four trends clear, above all through metallized transfer products in the new colors, and effective decors, which can be found on the individual boxes.

Focus on sustainability

The other highlights at the trade fair stand also show that sustainability is not just an empty word but an actively applied corporate principle. Visitors can learn more about RECOSYS®, the heart of KURZ’s ‘Lifecycle Thinking’, among other things: The PET return system, unique in the world to date, enables the residual carrier material from the finishing process to be processed into high-quality recycled pellets and used in the plastics industry. At LUXE PACK Monaco, the entire process can be experienced through versatile visual aids.

Digital finishing innovations

Trade fair visitors can also look forward to innovations in the digital finishing segment. A wide range of patterns show the entire range of finishing options that can be realized with the efficient and sustainable DM-MAXLINER from KURZ subsidiary Steinemann DPE. The finishing machine combines spot and relief coating with metallization in a single process, thus ensuring particularly haptic reliefs and tactile 3D looks.

Proven solutions and forward-looking ideas

Of course, KURZ will also be presenting numerous other sustainable solutions, proven technologies, and new products for cold transfer, hot stamping, and cosmetic decoration this year. Also at LEONHARD KURZ’s trade fair stand DB 11, KURZ subsidiary H+M will also be demonstrating the creative possibilities that embossing tools and stamping technologies create in the packaging industry.

“This year, also, our presentation at LUXE PACK Monaco will be very varied and exciting,” promises Stéphane Royère, Head of Business Area Packaging and Print. “But there is a common thread that runs through all the products and solutions on display, and that’s our motto ‘Attractiveness meets sustainability’! In addition to new product development, KURZ has made sustainability one of its top priorities. LUXE PACK visitors can now see this for themselves.”