How NPEA 2026 Was Judged

NPEA is Indonesia’s national student competition for AR packaging design, organised each year by HOVARLAY. Students design an oleh-oleh gift box rooted in a real Indonesian place, then build an augmented reality experience that opens when the packaging is scanned. The first edition ran in 2026, drew entries from students at 43 universities and polytechnics across 10 provinces, and closed with an award ceremony at the Indonesia Retail Summit & Expo in Jakarta.

NPEA is organised by HOVARLAY Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-incorporated experience technology company working across Singapore and Indonesia. Each edition is supported by sponsors and partner universities. Jurors serve in a personal capacity and do not represent their organisations.

The NPEA 2026 awards ceremony is scheduled on 27 August 2026.

Every entry is judged anonymously by an international jury. Student names and universities are removed before jurors see any submission, so work is assessed on its own merit whichever institution it came from. Entries are scored against five published criteria: visual design and shelf impact 25 percent, cultural storytelling and concept 25 percent, AR experience quality and value 25 percent, phygital integration 15 percent, and brief compliance and execution 10 percent. The 2026 jury was Ariana Susanti of the Indonesian Packaging Federation, Faddy Ravydera of SUKA STUDIO, Muhammad Imaduddin of DEIO and ADGI, William Berlian of Waykambas Branding, and Yulia Saksen of Creativeans.

The 2026 prize pool was 80M+ in cash prizes and platform subscriptions, awarded and paid across a grand prize, second and third place, three category awards, a People’s Choice award and four jury commendations. All twenty finalists also received a one-year HOVARLAY Pro subscription. Prizes for each edition are published when entries open.

Any student currently enrolled at a university or polytechnic in Indonesia, on any programme, not only design students. Entry is free, submissions may be in Bahasa Indonesia or English, and each participant submits one entry.

The second edition is in planning and dates are not yet confirmed. Register your interest and we will email you as soon as entries open.

No. Every NPEA entry is built on HOVARLAY without writing any code. Students upload their packaging design, attach the AR experience in a browser, and the platform generates the QR code. Online coaching sessions run through the entry period.

Yes. NPEA is open to students at any Indonesian university or polytechnic, and institutions can also become partner universities. 36 institutions signed a partnership agreement for the 2026 edition. Partner universities receive digital and social media promotion, communication and publicity related to the competition, exposure to a wide range of community and institutional networks, and increased national branding and competition visibility. Contact us to discuss the 2027 edition.

Through category sponsorship, prize funding, a place on the jury, or a design brief set by your own brand. Partnerships are shaped around what you want to achieve rather than sold as fixed tiers.

NPEA connects a brand to the designers entering Indonesia’s packaging industry, and to the universities that train them. The 2026 edition reached 43 institutions across 10 provinces and produced 274 working AR packaging concepts rooted in real Indonesian places and products. The full results are in the NPEA 2026 Impact Report.

AR packaging is physical packaging that opens a digital experience when a code on it is scanned. The experience opens in the phone browser with no app to install, and it can carry product origin, cultural story, instructions for use, or a loyalty journey.

All twenty NPEA 2026 finalists have their own page showing the packaging design, the province it came from, and a QR code you can scan to open the augmented reality experience. Every participating institution is named on the universities page.

An international jury of five: Ariana Susanti, Business Development Director, Indonesian Packaging Federation; Faddy Ravydera, Co-Founder and Creative Director, SUKA STUDIO; Muhammad Imaduddin, Co-Founder and Managing Director, DEIO, and Secretary General, ADGI; William Berlian, Co-Founder, Waykambas Branding; and Yulia Saksen, Co-Founder and Director, Creativeans.

Against five published criteria: visual design and shelf impact 25%, cultural storytelling and concept 25%, AR experience quality and value 25%, phygital integration 15%, and brief compliance and execution 10%.

Yes. Student names, student IDs and universities were removed before the jury saw any entry, so every entry was judged on its work alone.

No. People’s Choice was decided by a separate public vote. Olivia Aditya’s Kemplang Udang Bangka won Second Prize from the jury and People’s Choice from the public: two independent processes, one design.