To celebrate our 60th anniversary, we have chosen to reuse the original illustration created by Roar Høyland in 1963.
Text by Mats Linder
Industrial designer Roar Høyland was artistic director for PLUS for a period. His aim was to professionalize the operation. At the same time, he developed one of the organisation's most important products – the PLUS packaging.
Roar Høyland (b. 1930) took over as artistic director of PLUS from Hermann Bongard. PLUS was developing rapidly. The running-in problems that caused a number of conflicts in the early days had diminished. The aim was to professionalize the operation. One of the challenges was to ensure that PLUS export goods were properly packed and did not break during transport.
Instead of sending transport boxes with goods packed in wood wool, they wanted to think differently. Høyland discussed the matter with Sarpsborg Pap- og Papirindustri. In 1963, a solution was found where cylinders corresponding to cores for large paper rolls were used. Inside there was a layer of corrugated cardboard, and the lid and bottom were made from round wooden discs. The lid was held in place by a carrying cord. On the outside of the cardboard roll were Høyland's motifs of the Old Town in black on thick brown paper. The packaging was as much a craft product as the contents. Eventually, the concept was further developed and used for a number of other goods.
Roar Høyland's PLUS packaging attracted a lot of attention. In addition to being packaging, it gained added value in terms of advertising. It resulted in the awards Mark for good design and the Eurostar award .
Roar Høylands PLUS packaging together with a wine decanter. (Norway Designs)
Roar Høyland's vases were originally designed for the cafeteria restaurant Caravelle at Fornebu Airport in 1964. Made at Glasshytten at PLUS. (Photo: Mats Linder)
