Back in 2020, Great Northern announced that it would be investing in a four-year pilot project focused on advanced design and packaging. The sponsored course is an advanced design selective for graphic design students and a senior capstone for packaging students. During the course, students work in cross-disciplinary teams to solve packaging challenges and complete a project for one of Great Northern’s customers. It allows packaging and graphic design students to work together, challenge each other, and compromise to develop a packaging solution that meets the customer’s needs. At the end of the course, each group presents their solution to Great Northern team members and the customer.