This year, Pentawards received over 2,000 entries from across five continents, giving us a fascinating insight into the factors influencing packaging design now, and in the year to come. While many of the trends in this year’s Pentawards Trends Report were on the horizon before the pandemic, they have been amplified over a year or so of lockdowns, increasing digital transformation, and changing consumer habits. 
 
Sustainability continues to be a huge influence but we are seeing its increasing sophistication as consumer attitudes to more sustainable consumption also mature. Rather than just be sustainable, beauty and personal care brands are now having to decide which type of sustainable brand they are going to be. 
 
Some brands are choosing to be explicit about the use of sustainable materials by making them the focus of the packaging design. This creates instant appeal to consumers looking to make better choices. For example, ColorVue Lipstick, a silver award winner, champions its 100% mono-material, which reduces emissions and uses less plastic, in its design.  Meanwhile, packaging for Sekkisei Clear Wellness skincare, which won a bronze award, makes biomass plastic the focal point, with the look and texture of the material itself actively promoting its recycling and reuse in a positive way. Brands explicitly focusing on re-use/re-fill is another big trend we’ve seen.
 
Even for brands not leading with sustainability, it is still somehow finding a way in to the design, like the packaging for gold award winner R&C Fragrance Duo: a pair of scents stored within two entwined magnetic glass bottles, a kind of sculptural art piece that consumers will want to keep, re-use or re-purpose.
 
Other brands, like the packaging for LOOKS fragrances by Wolfgang Joop, are choosing to blend sustainable credentials with another trend we are seeing this year: optimising packaging for e-commerce by creating highly instagrammable designs. The packaging designs for Seven7een’s mascara and eyeshadow and SK-II Pitera skincare, both gold award winners, feature bold, impactful designs that will shine on both digital and physical shelves. Resembling urban graffiti, the designs for SK-II Pitera also tie into another trend we saw this year: Protest and Propaganda, where younger consumers are choosing brands that promote self- expression rather than restrictive beauty ideals.
 
Diversity, inclusion, and supporting mental health were other big influences we saw across all categories and will no doubt continue to shape the beauty sector. For that reason, perhaps the packaging for Fenty Skin, which won a gold award, is one to watch because it combines many of the insights discussed here: sustainable materials, refillable/reusable designs, a colour palette evocative of inclusiveness, and designs that feel optimised for social media. 
 
Download the Pentawards 2021 Trends Report here.