On October 25th and 26th, 12 teams assembled online for the VIGC European Graphic Arts hackathon, organized by EY, VIGC and Integraf. The hackathon teams, consisting out of students, industry experts, entrepreneurs and creatives, submitted high qualitative projects to reinvent the Graphic Arts sector, which they put together in only 2 days’ time. A jury of high-level industry leaders awarded Team Opinry as nr 1 winner. Their idea takes the guesswork out of packaging design decisions by combining AI and human opinions to avoid expensive brand errors.
A successful 2nd edition
This year’s hackathon broadened its borders even more, reaching to even Panama. The online format brought the community together in a lot of creative ways. Mentors knocked at the virtual MS Teams doors, participants shared their struggles in the dedicated channels, and could follow intense expert workshops, given by our EY team members Jan De Clippeleer and Jelle Jacobs, and by Sander Jansen from Jansen Business Academy. At more relaxing times during the 2-day hackathon, the hackers posted snapshots of pizza deliveries, pasta dishes, etc., and collectively sipped cocktails at a virtual bar get together.
“VIGC managing director Jos Steutelings said he hoped to expand the event’s reach and that teams from the UK would engage with next year’s event”, Printweek mentions.
Read here about last year’s hackathon, and how the industry mentors looked at it.
Workshop Pitching 
Workshop Digital Transformation 
Workshop Business Models 
The 3 prizes are sponsored by Sappi, with the first place receiving €2,000 and 3 months’ mentorship from Sappi, the 2nd place receiving €1,000, and both 2nd and 3rd places receiving a 2 months’ mentorship from VIGC. All winners will receive exposure for their ideas via Inkish.tv and at Het Congres on November 9th.
And the winner is…
“Jury members praised Opinry for their strong team spirit and great pitch, and said the well-formed idea looked like ‘a great solution for brand owners‘, Printweek says.
Which problem are you solving?
Opinry: “Businesses need to make fast design decisions and mostly, they have only their own opinion to back it up. And when the design isn’t received well by their target audience, There is no option on the market today that combines data-driven design with creativity and that analyses and optimizes packaging design. So why not adapt your packaging towards different target groups?“
Description of the solution
A platform where you can analyze your current packaging design and optimize it depending on your target audience…
Team members
Julie Dumoulin Ian Jakubek Henry Leyman Dries Maerten Frederic Vandelanotte Brian Caron Merke Luuk
On the 2nd place: Shiprz, by Imprimu
Which problem are you solving?
Shiprz: “Offering free shipping for ecommerce customers while providing brands with a lower cost of acquisition.“
Description of the solution
Full service solution offering color transpromotional labels for fulfillment sponsored by brands, providing free shipment options for end customers while offering a more efficient cost of acquisition for ecommerce
Team members
Miki Rubin, Wouter Meeuwisse, Sebastian Bedoya, Jonel Chacon and Demostenes Perez
Watch Miki Rubin & Wouter Meeuwisse · VIGC Hackathon 2nd price for Shiprz · Imprimu by INKISH TV.
3rd place: Scan the profile
Which problem are you solving?
Scan the profile: “Folding Carton and label converters often receive orders from their brand customers whereby the destination color profile is missing. Can we re-engineer from a printed sample the print conditions to exactly match the printed sample?“
Description of the solution
A Cloud service to extract the unknown color profile from a spectral scan of the printed sample..
Team members
Jan De Roeck, Mike Weber, Rian Goossens, Dries Vandenbussche
