Press Release
Bronze A' Design Award in Giftware Design Goes to House of Smaragd Advent Box by Rilind Hoxha and Haris Murich
Rilind Hoxha and Haris Murich recognized for giftware design by the international grand jury of the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 18, 2025 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Bronze A' Design Award in the Giftware Design category for House of Smaragd Advent Box by Rilind Hoxha and Haris Murich, designed for Smaragd 1969 / Why Agency. The recognition forms part of the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Bronze A' Design Award Means
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
About House of Smaragd Advent Box
House of Smaragd Advent Calendar is a structured countdown box made from ecological paper and sustainable materials, designed for repeated use. It contains four individually packaged jewelry pieces, each secured in separate compartments. Packaging is recyclable and reusable, reducing environmental impact. The box design allows for controlled access to each compartment, maintaining the element of surprise while keeping the items protected.
About Rilind Hoxha and Haris Murich
Why Agency is a creative studio based in Skopje, working across design, communication, and strategy. The studio collaborates with clients, institutions, and partners on projects involving visual identity, editorial design, digital platforms, and content development. Its process is grounded in research, dialogue, and multidisciplinary thinking, resulting in adaptable design systems that respond to context and function. Why Agency works across sectors including culture, education, technology, and public services, focusing on clarity, structure, and long-term usability in both digital and physical media.
Award Record
Rilind Hoxha and Haris Murich is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.
About the A' Giftware Design Award
The A' Giftware Design Award is an international gift design competition recognizing good gift designs by leading brands, manufacturers and designers worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to giftware designers, product designers, industrial design studios and giftware brands from all countries. Entries typically include candles, figurines, picture frames, decorative plates, ornaments and souvenirs. Awarded gift designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/giftware
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/171968
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/171968
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!171968
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/298990
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDXJlw_IrQW/?img_index=1
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- House of Smaragd Advent Box
- Function
- Advent Box
- Category
- Giftware Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Furniture & Home and Packaging & Retail
- Colors
- Dark Olive Green, Olive Drab, Dark Slate Gray, Gray and Silver
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Smaragd 1969 / Why Agency
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Rilind Hoxha and Haris Murich
- Country
- Macedonia
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2024 - 2025
- Design ID
- #171968
Credits
- Team
- Rilind Hoxha - Executive Direction & Production and Haris Murich - Creative Direction
- Image Credits
- Filip Shutarov
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- House of Smaragd Advent Calendar is a structured countdown box made from ecological paper and sustainable materials, designed for repeated use. It contains four individually packaged jewelry pieces, each secured in separate compartments. Packaging is recyclable and reusable, reducing environmental impact. The box design allows for controlled access to each compartment, maintaining the element of surprise while keeping the items protected.
- Inspiration
- The advent box takes inspiration from vintage advent boxes, incorporating a classic multi-compartment structure that enhances the anticipation of weekly reveals. Traditional advent calendars featured individually sealed sections, a concept replicated here with four separate compartments, each containing a unique jewelry piece.
- Research
- The research was mostly done online with some physical inspiration from vintage advent boxes found on flea markets.
- Challenge
- The hardest part was what the theme of the advent box was gonna be. The first themes were including miracles and surprises, but then we opted for a royalty like direction, for example House of Tudor. The second hardest part was creating an unique blueprint for the box, which was largely assisted by the production facility.
- Realization and Technology
- Sketched and Produced in Adobe Illustrator. Print execution done by hand.
- Operation and Interaction
- The front part is opened and there are four boxes inside, which are removable. Each of the boxes contains a piece of jewelry.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project piloted in 2023 for the 2024 season, and an initial prototype was released in limited quantities. The final presented version was produced in November 2024, and released on the 9th of December 2024. Production was primarily in Why Agency offices, while execution was done by AJ-Graf Matbaa in Skopje. The product was available for sale online and physically in the Smaragd stores in Skopje.
- Specifications
- 164x164x42mm, Gold plated & ecologically colored recycled paper.
- Keywords
- Christmas, Advent, Gifts, Jewelry, Marketing, Packaging.
