Diamond Packaging won four awards in the 17th Annual FSEA Gold Leaf Awards Competition, a showcase for the “creative, brilliant, and technically difficult works in the packaging industry.” Awards were announced last month at the FSEA National Convention in New Orleans, LA. The competition, sponsored by the Foil & Specialty Effects Association (FSEA), recognizes top quality craftsmanship and expressions of excellence in the areas of foil stamping, embossing, specialty effects, and design. Entries are judged on several criteria including design, execution, and level of difficulty.

Competing against hundreds of entries from around the world, Diamond earned recognition by winning two Gold Leaf awards, one Silver Leaf award, and one Bronze Leaf award.

Diamond won a Gold Leaf award in the category of “Most Difficult Application of Foil Stamping/Embossing on a Folding Carton” for packaging created for BHPC Fragrances’ Beverly Hills Polo Club Classic, a contemporary, subtle fragrance reflective of the casual and elegant California lifestyle.

The French reverse tuck carton features a textured Black Vat Dyed paperboard complemented by gold and red hot foil stamped accents, creating a carton with visual and tactile impact. Diamond also won a Gold Leaf award in the category of “Best Use of Finishing Processes Combined with Sustainable Materials” for its 2010 corporate calendar, a popular promotional item given to customers and prospects.

This year’s surfing theme features images of a vintage 1960’s-era VW bus and surfboards, decorated with the latest in package printing technologies. The overall presentation imparts unusual depth and distinction by combining innovative structural design with specialty printing and finishing techniques. It also demonstrates Diamond’s work in sustainable packaging design, through right sizing, material selection, and the use of MiraFoil coating.

The header is highly decorated with UV gloss spot coating, flat foil stamping (logo and VW bus trim accents), holographic foil stamping (water), and multi-level embossing (VW bus and surfboard).

The backers were die cut in the shape of three different surfboard styles and enhanced with MiraFoil, an environmentally-friendly specialty metallic coating. MiraFoil is an economical, in-line alternative to foil stamping which uses no heavy metals and results in less material and energy usage compared to an off-line foil stamping process.

Other winning highlights include a Silver Leaf Award for Coty’s new Southern Blend by Tim McGraw fragrance, decorated with a custom-designed gold foil embossed guitar pick and an overall embossed cork pattern, and a Bronze Leaf Award for US CosmeceuTechs’ Priori Idebenone Superceuticals carton featuring foil stamping and debossing.