Some people say packaging is boring, but we all know better, don’t we? We’re big believers in the stuff, and even bigger believers in the future of custom packaging. Recently, The Packaging Company acquired a high-end digital cutting machine—one that allows the imaginations of packaging lovers to run wild. With the right vision, know-how and materials, custom boxes, shapes and even art is possible. And it’s that last option that caught the eye of Crown Ridge Farms.

Located in Collingwood, Ontario, Crown Ridge Farms is a breeder of Hunter and Welsh ponies. Every year, they compete at The Royal Winter Fair alongside dozens of other show breeders, winning ribbons and accolades alike. Wanting to do something a little different this year, they asked The Packaging Company to create a custom banner that would help them stand out from everyone else. Needless to say, armed with our new digital cutting machine, we were more than thrilled to help them.

Every competitor at The Royal can display a banner for their farm, and many are created from some interesting materials, like painted canvas or even carved wood. So, how do you stand out from the crowd in an environment that can be both physically taxing and hard on materials? Corrugate is always a good and popular choice, but as Crown Ridge Farms and The Packaging Company like to think differently, we settled on an interesting choice that proved to be the right one: polyplank foam.

Crown Ridge Farms: CRF

We wanted the foam banners to be both impactful and sharp, so we stuck with the basics: black and white. This allowed the banners to look unlike anything else in the stables, while standing up to the dirt and dust that would settle around them. Once we’d created a design everyone loved, we cut it out two times—once on the black foam, and a second time on the white. Then we simply swapped out the cut components, sealed them together and created the final pieces below. As you can see, this meant we ended up with two versions of the banner, and to this day, it’s been tough for us to decide which is our favourite. Which one’s yours? Let us know!

Crown Ridge Farms: Side-by-Side

As delighted as we were to see the finished product, Crown Ridge Farms was so excited by the end result that they asked us to create one more thing—nameplates for their ponies. There was no way we were going to say no!

Using the same design motifs, we created 5 nameplates for their show ponies: Crown Ridge Just One Wish, Crown Ridge Standing Jovation, Applevalley Captain Jack, Sweet Dreams & Dreamcatcher. We cut the black and white foam, swapped the components and sealed the finished products together. Now each show pony had their very own nameplate—we’d like to think it made each of them proud!

Crown Ridge Farms: Just One Wish Warehouse   Crown Ridge Farms: Just One Wish Stall

One interesting advantage of using polyplank foam is that the finished products were incredibly lightweight and easy to transport. Once Crown Ridge Farms had arrived at The Royal Winter Fair, all it took was some double-sided tape to secure the nameplates to the stalls. The banner itself rested comfortably and easily in a beautiful setting Crown Ridge farms had created themselves.

Crown Ridge Farms: Full Banner

Once the competition began, the compliments came rolling in. Visitors and competitors alike stopped to stare at the banner and ask questions—What’s it made of? Where did you get it? Can we touch it?

Visitors were eagerly taking pictures of the banners with family and friends, and fellow competitors even stopped to take pictures of their own ponies in front of it. We think it’s safe to say it made Crown Ridge Farms a big hit, and we daresay they stole the show.

Crown Ridge Farms: The Packaging Company

The Packaging Company was so thrilled to create something unique, impactful and memorable for our friends at Crown Ridge Farms. Our digital cutting capabilities have opened a whole new avenue of opportunities, options and ideas when it comes to packaging materials and custom packaging options. If you’re like-minded and interested in what that kind of opportunity can do for you, please, don’t hesitate to talk with us. We’re always glad to hear from you.

We want to thank Crown Ridge Farms for trusting us with their image, and want to congratulate them for such a wonderful and successful showing at this year’s The Royal Winter Fair.

Crown Ridge Farms: Look at ALL those Ribbons!