Teresa Cantu (IDEA20) gains RGD Honourable Mention for Packaging Design

Congratulations to Teresa Cantu (IDEA Grad 2020) for gaining the RGD Honourable Mention for Packaging Design for her “Scotch & Ginger” branding project.

Teresa incorporates storytelling of Celtic mythology into her product packaging for a fictitious barber shop with Scottish roots. This was a very fun project for Teresa and she learned that thorough research is extremely important in design.

Shown above: Inspired by the myth of the very popular Loch Ness and how elusive it is as it doesn’t leave a trace, I decided to pair it up with argan oil. The product’s feature is that it doesn’t leave a trace on your hair, but it leaves it silky smooth like slimy Nessy.

“Scotch and Ginger was a branding project that had a packaging element within it. The business was a barber shop with Scottish roots that were branching out with in-house products. I decided to incorporate storytelling into my products, as the Celtic mythology is full of wonder. Each product is embedded with a unique character or story, all inspired from Celtic stories. This was a very fun project for me and the best part of it is that I learned that thorough research is extremely important in design.”

— Teresa Cantu (IDEA Grad 2020)

Queen of Winter

According to myth, Beuhr, Queen of Winter, is responsible for the harsh conditions experienced in the winter months in Scotland. We all get very dry skin during the cold winter months so the obvious choice was hand cream.

Hair Gel

The blue men of Minch are a powerful group of Mermen with the ability to create deadly storms. Surviving sailors say that they swim like porpoises, twisting and diving. This equally powerful hair gel will hold your hair through any storm, allowing you to dive into your daily routines without any worries. At this point I was just having fun with the juxtaposition of the myths and products.

“Process-wise, there was a lot of wine and sleepless nights. This project had 5 pieces, but I only chose to submit 3 due to time constraints, so you can imagine the amount of work for a 4-week class, from concept, research and execution... it was a bit intense! I knew I wanted to illustrate as illustration is still a big part of my practice, so I decided to do all of my drawings on my iPad (Procreate) and then do the finishing touches in Adobe Photoshop.”

— Teresa Cantu (IDEA Grad 2020)

“Many congratulations to all our RGD Award winners and honourable mentions! This year, there were 973 submissions from 462 design students attending 34 post-secondary schools across Canada, so we did exceptionally well!”

— Carol Aitken, Co-Coordinator of IDEA School of Design

The Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD) is a non-profit, professional Association that represents over 4,100 design practitioners, including firm owners, freelancers, managers, educators and students.

For all the winners, see rgd.ca.