St Andrew’s College was privileged to host Richard Hopkins as our Designer in Residence this week. Mr Hopkins spoke to classes in the Design and Technology Centre throughout the day and delivered a public lecture in the evening.
Richard Hopkins studied Fine Art and Graphic Design at the Pietermaritzburg University and Mechanical Engineering and Production Management at the Port Elizabeth Technikon.
He has worked as a consultant in the packaging industry for the past twenty years for local and international companies. He has gained vast experience in the basic principles and practises in the manufacture of all packaging materials, in the recycling of materials and in sales strategies in the packaging industry.
The ViscoDisc is one of Mr Hopkins’ designs and is something many will have come across when opening a jar of pepper dews. The ViscoDisc is the plastic insert placed in the top of the jar so that the product can have a longer shelf life and be exported without any oxidation or discolouration to the fruit in the bottles.
Richard Hopkins has won several awards from the Institute of Packaging South Africa, and the World Packaging Organisation for his contribution to the industry.
