Paint can

A roller tray that doubles as the lid of a paint can has scooped a Gold Award at the recent IDEA contest, which is sponsored by Business Week and run independently by the Industrial Designers Society of America.

The lid of the rectangular packaging transforms into a paint tray when opened, which means no paint is wasted and no cleaning is required.

Originally launched by Akzo Nobel’s Decorative Coatings Europe business late last year in the Netherlands, the new design - which accommodates a standard paint roller - has since been introduced in Spain. And the company now has plans to introduce it into other European markets over the next few years.

Only available in white wall paint at the moment, the new paint can - currently being used by the Dutch Flexa and Spanish Bruguer brands - has had a dramatic impact on sales in the few months it has been on sale.