AGI/Klearfold, one of the world's leading producers of creative and visual packaging, has won three AmeriStar Package Awards in the Institute of Packaging Professionals' (IoPP) 2003 competition, presented at Pack Expo in Las Vegas last month. The MeadWestvaco subsidiary joins an elite group of companies who have earned multiple awards in a single year.

AGI/Klearfold took top honors for the InSight package it produced in collaboration with Procter & Gamble for the consumer-product company's OlayĆ Regenerist line of anti-aging skin-care products; the Vista Image compact package it developed for Stila Convertible Color Lip Gloss; and the Durafold security package it created for GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare's Abreva cold sore medication.

Judged by a panel of distinguished packaging professionals, the AmeriStar awards recognize the year's most outstanding packages, taking into consideration criteria such as innovation, performance, and marketing impact. This year, more than 100 entries competed for 36 awards in 14 categories, such as food, household products, health and beauty aids, and pharmaceuticals/drugs.

"We're thrilled to have had not one, but three of our new packaging products be honored by the IoPP," explains AGI/Klearfold Marketing Manager Patrick McGee. "As a company dedicated to bringing innovative, creative solutions to all of our customers, we appreciate this recognition of our expertise in designing, producing and delivering high-impact packaging for some of the best-known personal care brands in the world."

Rather than apply "cookie-cutter" solutions, AGI/Klearfold listens to its customers' needs, draws on its expertise in designing and converting multiple materials (paperboard, plastics and combinations of the two) and offers forward-thinking packaging ideas that are often the first of their kind, the company says. All three of the company's AmeriStar Package Award-winning entries showcase its focus on creating distinctive and innovative packaging.

The InSight carton, a winner in the Health and Beauty Aids (HBA) category, is a combination-style package that brings together printed plastic sleeves and injection molded end caps. The non-traditional elliptical shape of the package and the materials used to produce it not only speak to the uniqueness and premium positioning of the Olay products, but they reportedly also are noticeably different from the white paperboard "tuck" cartons that dominate the skin-care category.

Another winner in the HBA category, the Vista Image Compact that AGI/Klearfold produced for Stila, is a patent-pending concept in cosmetic compacts. The modular system joins two components--a stock, injection-molded tray and a custom-decorated paperboard cover--to create a flexible packaging platform that is said to blend beauty with functionality.

AGI/Klearfold's Durafold Security Package, which took top honors in the Pharmaceutical and Drug category, was manufactured from a proprietary, polypropylene-based synthetic paperboard to provide greater tear-resistance and stronger seals than previous Abreva folding cartons, the mfr. reports.

For more information, visit http://www.meadwestvaco.com.