Design news: how to breathe underwater and charge a phone in a disaster, plus learning about black creativity

Though architect studio Apparata missed out on the 2023 Stirling Prize, it’s great to see A House for Artists win a RIBA award for affordable housing. Read more about this sensational design in this month’s news.

Think outside the box

Kids get laughed at for playing with the box rather than the toy they’ve just pulled out of its packaging, but appreciation for nice presentation never really fades. Of course, that delight is dampened by the current climate crisis. The harm to species and the environment caused by plastic is at an all time high. The sheer volume of packaging waste is mind blowing. In the UK alone, 2.2m tonnes of plastic packaging enters the consumer market every year.

So it’s affirming toa collection of all the 2021/22 winners of the Pentawards competition. These global awards for packaging look for innovations that are sustainable as well as stylish. The judging panels includes experts from the World Wide Fund for Nature as well designers for Pentagram. Packaging honoured in this beautiful art book includes everything from perfume to cat food – all of it looks as good enough to play with.