If anything epitomises 2020, it’s the coronavirus pandemic, and if anything exemplifies its extraordinary effect on normal events, it surely is the way in which this year’s Gold Pack entries were judged!

The traditional three-day gathering of adjudicators at the Inanda Club, where judging has taken place for the past five years, was exchanged for online prejudging of pictures and motivations, followed by virtual judging of physical packs courtesy of a series of Zoom meetings.

For this virtual procedure, judging chairman, Bill Marshall, plus three Gauteng-based judges – Annabe Pretorius, Ralph von Veh and Vanessa von Holdt – acted as the eyes, ears and senses of the other judges, scattered around the country. This process provided a degree of interactivity that was greatly appreciated by the other worthies – Andy Rice, Clive Glover, Gill Loubser, Gunner Sigge, Shabeer Jhetam, Susi Moore and Wendy Knowler.

This then was IPSA’s response to an enormous challenge – surely among the most serious challenges in its 50-year existence, bearing testimony to the maxim Necessity is the mother of invention (or its South African equivalent: ’n boer maak ’n plan!).

Among many enthusiastic comments at the end of a week of Zoom-ing and finalising the judging process, one judge remarked: ‘I really enjoyed the passion for packaging and the lively debates.’ This aptly sums up a judging process that was often frustrating for those who couldn’t open, touch or see the actual packs, but received essential primal feedback from competent ‘live’ judges.

Judges and contestants alike owe Bill Marshall an enormous vote of thanks for his ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking that allowed Gold Pack to take place this year, despite the pandemic, resulting in 55 finalists being named, as tabulated below.

The announcement of trophy winners (an online ceremony) will be available on October 28. Details of how to access these video announcements will be emailed to finalists and published on the Institute of Packaging SA website (www.ipsa.org.za).