Ball’s latest product innovation, an embossed lid for a canned mineral water, won Fast Company’s 2024 Innovation by Design Awards in the Latin America category.

Now in its 13th year, the Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards is one of the most coveted design awards in the packaging industry. This prestigious award honors designers and companies addressing today’s important problems that may be overlooked in the world, such as a prevalent issue in the visually impaired community that Ball helped to address: reading can labels.

The award-winning can, a collaboration between Ball and Minalba Brasil, with guidance from the Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind, is the first aluminum can in the Americas with a braille system. This innovative solution, designed by a multidisciplinary team at Ball, provides visually impaired consumers the freedom to choose canned beverages.

Hugo Magalhães, a Marketing Director at Ball Corporation, explains that the development involved numerous studies and tests to adapt the Braille system, usually designed for flat surfaces, to the can's curved surface.

"The can lid only offers a 5-centimeter area for engraving. Ensuring the legibility and quality of Braille in such a limited space was challenging. While we can easily engrave an image on a can, Braille is different. Thanks to everyone's efforts, we achieved this solution," Hugo explains.

Despite the challenges, Camila Vila Verde, Ball’s Regional Marketing Manager for South America, emphasizes that the process was essential for creating this impactful innovation. The Ball team is excited to have been on this journey and made a contribution to the visually impaired community.