Interview about Bairuiyuan Wolfberry, winner of the A' Packaging Design Award 2021
Wolfberry, as the oriental treasure of plant fruit, has always been regarded as a good product of medicine and food. This design works not only meet the application of the product itself to lock fresh technology, maximize its nutritional components, but also skillfully integrate the Chinese millennium inscription stone carving art to express the humanistic spirit of Chinese medicine. Let people feel the balance between traditional culture and modern science and technology beauty.
View detailed images, specifications, and award details on A' Design Award & Competition website.
View Design DetailsIn the early stage of this packaging design project, we divided the project goals into two parallel threads. One was to showcase the technological attribute of Chinese wolfberry（goji） berries - freshness locking - to justify the product's premium pricing. The other was to preserve and convey the profound traditional Chinese medicine culture and regional characteristics associated with Chinese wolfberry berries. The integration path was not formed overnight but evolved through multiple rounds of workshops, material sampling, and visual experiments.The specific steps are as follows:1.Sort out the visual characteristics of Chinese medicine classics and stele inscriptions.2.Extract the elements of "engraved marks, negative versions, line thickness, and broken strokes".3.Convert these elements into graphic languages that can be printed or embossed.4.Use the embossing technique on the outer box's cotton paper to create an "emergent" tactile sensation (visually it appears almost monochromatic, but information is revealed through touch), thus achieving a balance between visual simplicity and cultural depth.The final effect is a "subtle" expression that respects traditional aesthetics - from a distance, it looks pure white, but when viewed up close, characters can be seen. Meanwhile, the functionality and recognizability of modern packaging are retained.
The one-way exhaust valve technology was independently introduced by the client. After the client decided to adopt the one-way exhaust valve process, our core work focused on the systematic design and integration of the outer packaging around the topic of "fresh-locked Chinese wolfberry berries". Through structural adaptation, material selection, and information hierarchy design, we made the packaging unified in terms of protection, presentation, and brand language.Through the presentation of packaging narratives and craftsmanship details, we endow the product with the warmth behind the technology and enhance its value as a gift, enabling the overall image to combine a sense of technology with elegance both visually and experientially.
The material selection adheres to three principles: "function+ experience+ manufacturability". For the outer layer, we finally chose cotton paper with a comfortable touch and embossed it. The cotton paper can offer a warm and gentle tactile sensation, while the embossing can present the in-scriptive text in a "vitality" effect, which is in line with the sense of cultural ritual；The middle layer and the main structure are made of high - strength industrial cardboard to ensure load - bearing capacity, compression resistance, and logistics safety.The process includes: comparing various paper samples and processes (cotton papers of different grammages, different embossing depths, and different gluing methods) → testing the collision-buffering performance and touch feeling → confirming the parameters for mass production with die-cutting, laminating, and bonding factories. The final materials not only meet the cultural symbolism (simplicity, tactile comfort, and the "understated luxury" in visual appearance) but also satisfy the functionality requirements for transportation and display.
The red-and-white color combination is derived from the contexts of traditional Chinese medicine and festivals in China. White symbolizes purity, medical classics, and technology, while red represents the natural color of Chinese wolfberry berries, life, and time. The red waistband serves as the visual focal point. It not only echoes the product itself but also adds a sense of ceremony to the unpacking process. The gold-embossed rings on the waistband symbolize "time and cycle", reinforcing the concept that "high-quality products are nurtured by time".The gold-edge process (hot stamping) offers a sense of nobility visually. Tactilely, it creates a contrast between the metallic sheen and the texture of the paper. In this way, it combines "traditional value (culture)" with "product premium (quality)", enabling the design to strike a balance between sensibility and rationality.
Our starting point is to ensure that "technology does not overshadow culture, and culture does not impede technology." Therefore, in the design process, technical parameters come first (requirements for freshness preservation, valve body, inner tank material, filling environment) to guarantee that the packaging can achieve its functions physically. Subsequently, cultural aspirations are incorporated into the outer box and the unpacking experience (engraved inscriptions, red silk lifting lid, magnetic buckle opening and closing, and the imagery of the waistband). In other words, the inner layer serves as the "scientific guarantee layer," and the outer layer functions as the "cultural expression layer."In the interaction between visual perception and actual function, we design the cultural expression as a "discovery through details" (appearing simple from a distance and revealing cultural touch - points upon close inspection). This approach avoids having cultural elements interfere with the sealing or increase the operational complexity, thus achieving synergy rather than conflict between the technology and cultural.
The scale design on the bottle is derived from the observation of consumers' usage scenarios and nutritional suggestions. Chinese wolfberry is a daily health - preserving ingredient, and there are two key cognitive blind spots: "appropriate amount" and "frequency". Based on the nutritional advice and research (including user habits and perception of single - serving amount) provided by the client, we introduced scale markings, taking both practicality and aesthetics into account.The scale markings not only make it easy for users to keep track of the recommended daily intake (enhancing the user experience and building trust), but also maintain the overall delicate design visually through the combination of micro - engraved textures and the bottle material, so as not to undermine the cultural tone of the appearance.
The design evolution of the magnetic snap adsorption lid primarily serves the overall sense of ceremony when opening the outer packaging. Our aim is to create a dramatic process from the "stationary gift box" to the "reveal of the product". The "adsorption" and "separation" of the magnetic snaps offer precise and elegant tactile feedback, which connects with a series of actions such as pulling out the red waistband and lifting the red silk lid. Together, they build up to the narrative climax of "the appearance of the precious item."The key point of this mechanism lies in enhancing the cultural experience and emotional connection during the unpacking process, enabling users to feel the brand's high - end quality and meticulous attention right from the first point of contact.
The design's recognition by the A' Design Award has solidified our methodology of "empowering brand premium through cultural storytelling." It has demonstrated that through the visual system, material texture, and opening ceremony of the outer packaging, profound cultural values can be successfully conveyed to an international audience.This honor has spurred us to focus more on unearthing unique cultural symbols (such as the engraved inscriptions in this project) in subsequent projects and transforming them into tangible experiences. Our approach has evolved from "designing packaging" to "designing perceptible cultural experiences," and winning this award validates the international communication power of this direction.
During the research phase of this design, the most crucial step was to establish the keynote that "the outer packaging serves as the core carrier of cultural value". In the early stage, we were caught in a dilemma about balancing the inner and outer packaging. However, user test feedback indicated that the outer box made of cotton paper with a warm touch, the engraved inscriptions that looked like imprints, and the ceremonial opening method together constituted the primary basis for consumers to recognize the brand's high - end quality and cultural connotations.This discovery prompted us to allocate the majority of our design resources to the innovation of the outer packaging in terms of materials, craftsmanship, and structure. Eventually, we established a clear hierarchical relationship, with the outer box serving as the "cultural hall" and the inner bottle as the "reserved precious item."
The far - reaching impact of this project lies in establishing an upgrade paradigm of "from the outside in, culturally driven" for the industry. It demonstrates that the modernization of traditional medicinal material packaging does not solely rely on internal technological innovations (such as freshness - preserving bottles). More crucially, it hinges on successfully constructing the product's cultural identity and high - end value through the overall visual system, material craftsmanship, and opening experience of the outer packaging.We foresee that in the future, more brands will follow this path: regarding packaging as a complete cultural device capable of telling brand stories. In this way, they can break free from the traditional competitive dimensions of functionality and cost and create new market premium spaces.
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