Aquetha Sake-Verpackung by Tacto Inc. is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2024 A' Design Award in Silber in Verpackungsdesign Competition Category.

SilberVerpackung· 2024

Aquetha Sake-Verpackung

by Tacto Inc.

Client: Tacto Inc

A' Design Award in Silber Winner in Verpackung Category

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Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #158293

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The Design

About Aquetha Sake-Verpackung

Aquetha ist ein Verpackungs- und Markendesign für gereiften japanischen Sake. Die Flasche wird von einem Glaskünstler von Hand gefertigt und durch die Schwerkraft geformt, was ihr eine natürliche Rundung verleiht, die das Vergehen der Zeit andeutet. Die abgerundete Form begünstigt zudem eine gleichmäßige Reifung nach der Abfüllung. Die transparenten Etiketten werden mit einer Blindprägung im Buchdruckverfahren hergestellt und spiegeln so den klaren Charakter der Reifung bei Eistemperatur wider. Die schlichte Umverpackung weist zwischen Deckel und Korpus eine Einkerbung auf, die den zeitlichen Verlauf der Reifung zum Ausdruck bringt. Das Design präsentiert gereiften Sake als Kunstwerk und nicht als gewöhnliches Produkt.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award in Silber

Aquetha Sake-Verpackung ist Gewinner des A' Design Award in Silber, einer enorm prestigeträchtigen Anerkennung für erstklassige, großartige und beeindruckende Spitzendesigns. Silber-Gewinner sind ungemein brillante und äußerst kreative Werke, die die herausragende Expertise, das Talent und den Scharfsinn ihrer Designer veranschaulichen. Von Aquetha Sake-Verpackung wird erwartet, dass es ein wunderbares Vorzeigewerk ist, das bemerkenswert professionell und zutiefst innovativ ist. Dieses mit dem A' Design Award in Silber prämierte Design ist eine höchst bemerkenswerte, bewunderte Erfindung, die den Grenzen von Kunst, Wissenschaft, Design und Technologie zugutekommt und sie voranbringt. Aquetha Sake-Verpackung ist eine vielbeneidete Schöpfung, die Wünsche weckt, positive Gefühle vermittelt und Staunen und Verwunderung entfacht.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Aged sake is a minor genre among Japanese sake, and the design team needed to re-propose it to the world in a way that is not bound by the traditional context of Japanese sake. Therefore, they created a design to position AQUETHA, which is characterized by ice-temperature aging, as the umbrella for the online gallery “Kitamura Sake Exhibition,'' which views aged sake as works of art, and as the first of the works that will be exhibited and sold there. Based on this concept, they planned and developed bottles that are hand-made by artists, and a website that functions as a gallery. The selection of works for the second and subsequent editions is already underway, as they have been well-received by Western liquor fans and young people who were previously unable to approach aged sake.
Dimensions & Packaging: Bottle: width 110mm × depths110mm × height150mm
Package: width135mm × depth135mm × height 165mm
Tags: Packaging, Product Design, Website
Production Technology: Bottles and packaging that do not compromise
on every detail as a “artwork”.
Design team commissioned glass artist Yutaro Kijima to create a bottle that is shaped by the force of gravity and has a natural roundness that gives a sense of the passage of time. Furthermore, in order to make the most of the clear impression that is a characteristic of ice-cold aging, they created transparent labels printed using blank letterpress printing.

The outer box has a simple shape to make the flask-shaped bottle look more attractive. they created a dent on the border between the lid and the main body to express the aging timeline, creating a luxurious feel that incorporates the delicate image of the work.

A website that acts more like a gallery than EC site.
On the website, design team aimed to create a gallery-like space where the consumer could "feel" the work rather than "buying" the product. AQUETHA's greatest feature, the delicacy that matures slowly over time, is expressed through white-based visuals and delicate lines. The spacious design creates a clean, simple and sophisticated image.
Design Challenge: Since the Sake bottle is designed to be handcrafted one by one with glasswork craftsman, it was challenging to make them a perfect size and shape to keep the quality of sake among temperature and moisture. Design team and glass artist had tried so many different shape to test wether the bottle keeps the quality of sake in different atmosphere. They ended up using rounded bottle that helps smooth aging of sake after sake is bottled.
Inspiration: Design team faced business issue of what can they do to increase the value of aged sake, which is an idle asset in sake breweries across Japan. They found inspiration in paintings, which value of painting varies depending on popularity and the time. The solution was to open an online gallery as a curator to exhibit and sell aged sake, a treasure hidden throughout Japan.
Project Duration: 2months, Tokyo, Japan
Operation Flow: This tends to be SDGs project because lots of sake brewery have unsold sake that is asleep for a certain period of time (it is perfectly kept to be aged sake). The design team has branded them as Aged Sake to turn unsold sake into a value for brewery and customer, which ultimately prevented from lots of sake become a waste.
Team Members: Creative Director: Hayato Itakura
Strategist/Copy Writer: Takuro Nakajima
Art Director: Kohei Futakuchi
Visual Designer: Kazuya Sakamoto
Image Credits: Photographer: Masato Ishibashi
Glass Artist: Yutaro Kijima