UPM Raflatac announces winners for Label Design Awards 2007

(UPM Raflatac, Tampere, March 6, 2007) - The winners of the UPM Raflatac Label Design Awards 2007 have been selected. First place in the professional category was awarded to Freelance Designer Li Yang from Beijing. Zheng Jinde from Zhejiang Industrial University in Hangzhou was selected as the first place winner in the student category.

The label design competition encouraged Chinese designers to create a label for an imaginary home care or personal care product called New Era – using UPM Raflatac’s extensive range of labelstocks as a canvas. It also provided an opportunity to better utilize the versatile characteristics of pressure sensitive materials.

The competition was well-received in more than a hundred design schools from 22 provinces across China. The targeted participation was exceeded in both the student and professional categories. All in all, more than 2,000 suggestions were submitted for the jury’s evaluation.

According to a jury of six internationally famed designers and industry experts, the level of the submitted works was high. The designs in the student category were bold and unprejudiced. In the professional category, notable strengths were practicality born from experience and skilful attention to the many technical challenges and requirements. In general, the competition entries were viable and also had commercial potential.

“The UPM Raflatac Label Awards 2007 turned out to be a successful competition with highly interesting results. We had a lot of interest and saw a high level of ability for label design in both the student and professional categories. Using UPM Raflatac’s pressure sensitive materials, the entrants were able to come up with a broad range of designs which reflected their enthusiasm for this kind of work,” says Elisa Nilsson, Vice President, Communications at UPM Raflatac.

The winners were announced at the opening ceremony of UPM Raflatac’s new pressure sensitives manufacturing centre in Changshu, China on March 6. The first, second and third place winners in both categories received an award, and twenty runners up in the student category received an honourable mention and a diploma.

UPM Raflatac organized The Label Design Awards in cooperation with CAFA, the Central Academy of Fine Arts, in China.

The winners

Professional category:

1. Li Yang, Freelancer, Beijing
2. Yu Yongfang, Sommese Packaging Design Co., Urumuqi
3. Yang Rong, Tianjin Taotao Label Printing Co., Tianjin
   Liang Xiuchuan, Designer, Beijing

Special nomination:
An Ni, Beijing

Nomination award:
Huang Yonggang, Hesign, Shanghai
Liu Jiangxin, Designer, Changchun

Student category:

1. Zheng Jinde, Zhejiang Industrial University, Hangzhou 
2. Cui Xiaoxi, City College, Central Academy of Fine Arts CAFA, Beijing
   Yuan Xiaolu, Central Academy of Fine Arts CAFA, Beijing  
3. Liang Xiuchuan, Central Academy of Fine Arts CAFA, Beijing
   Luo Yiting, Central Academy of Fine Arts CAFA, Beijing
   Yue Zhenting, Zhejiang Industrial University, Hangzhou

In addition, twenty runners up in the student category received an honourable mention and a diploma.

A list of all the winners will soon be available on the English-language competition website at www.upmraflatac.com/labeldesign_eng.

For further information please contact:
Ms Elisa Nilsson, Vice President, Communications, UPM Raflatac, mobile +358 40 500 3150

About UPM Raflatac
UPM Raflatac is a world-leading supplier of self-adhesive label materials for a wide variety of needs in product and information labelling. In addition, the company is at the global forefront in the development and high-volume production of HF and UHF radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and inlays. UPM Raflatac has around 2,500 employees and made sales of approximately USD 1.3 billion in 2006. The company has a global service network consisting of 11 factories on five continents and a broad network of distribution and slitting terminals and sales offices worldwide. UPM Raflatac is part of UPM. Further information is available at www.upmraflatac.com.