Press Release
Xiaoyou Cultural Creative Liquor Packaging by Wen Liu Receives the Silver A' Design Award in Packaging Design
Wen Liu recognized for packaging design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 24, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Silver A' Design Award in the Packaging Design category for Xiaoyou Cultural Creative Liquor Packaging by Wen Liu, designed for Shanxi Dianfan Cultural and Creative Industry Co., Ltd.. The result belongs to the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the Silver A' Design Award
The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.
More About Xiaoyou Cultural Creative Liquor Packaging
Xiaoyou Cultural Creative Liquor is a ceramic bottle and packaging design for a Chinese spirit. The bottle takes its form from the Xiaoyou, an owl shaped bronze liquor vessel of the Shang Dynasty held in the Shanxi Museum. Serpent, wing and Kui dragon motifs are simplified into clean lines. The body is made of matte black Jingdezhen ceramic and is detailed with metallic gilding, while the cap and drinking set combine ceramic and metal. The owl shaped outer lid is twisted open by hand, repeating the way the original vessel was used.
Award Record
This recognition makes Wen Liu a winner of 49 A' Design Awards. The awards were granted between the 2019 - 2020 and the 2025 - 2026 editions of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Packaging Design Award
The A' Packaging Design Award is an international packaging competition that recognizes outstanding packaging designs by talented packaging designers worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to packaging designers, graphic designers, branding agencies and product manufacturers from all countries. Typical entries include bottles, boxes, cans, pouches, tubes and cartons. The awarded packaging designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/packaging
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/178024
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/178024
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!178024
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/249896
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Xiaoyou Cultural Creative Liquor Packaging
- Function
- Packaging
- Category
- Packaging Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Packaging & Retail, Branding & Advertising and Manufacturing
- Colors
- Dark Slate Gray, Black, Dim Gray and Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Shanxi Dianfan Cultural and Creative Industry Co., Ltd.
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Wen Liu
- Country
- China
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #178024
Credits
- Team
- Zongming Qi and Qing Sun
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Xiaoyou Cultural Creative Liquor embodies three millennia of civilization, rejuvenated through contemporary design. The bottle draws inspiration from the bronze artifact Xiaoyou housed in the Shanxi Museum, distilling classic motifs such as serpent patterns, wing patterns, and Kui dragon patterns. While preserving the artifact's essence, the design reinterprets its form with elegant and simplified lines, aligning with modern aesthetics. Crafted from Jingdezhen ceramic, the bottle undergoes meticulous artistry and rigorous testing to ensure both secure liquor storage and transport convenience.
- Inspiration
- The bronze artifact Xiaoyou from the Shanxi Museum, celebrated as the most adorable artifact, is an exquisite masterpiece of late Shang Dynasty bronze craftsmanship. The vessel features two owls standing back-to-back. In ancient Chinese, "Xiao" was the collective term for owls, while "You" denotes a type of liquor vessel—thus, "Xiaoyou" literally means an "owl-shaped liquor container." Over three millennia ago, this vessel held strong liquor for ritual offerings to the gods; today, it carries our imagination of history. What has changed from its perception as a "war god" to a "mascot" is not the form of the Xiaoyou, but our perspective in interpreting civilization.
- Research
- This project constitutes a research endeavor in cultural and creative product design, focusing on the cross-disciplinary integration of cultural heritage with the spirits industry. Centered on the Shang Dynasty bronze Xiaoyou as its cultural medium, the study aims to develop a Fenjiu cultural product that harmonizes profound cultural depth with vibrant market appeal, achieving the dual objectives of revitalizing cultural artifacts and enhancing brand equity.
- Challenge
- On the historical dimension, it is necessary to strike a balance between the solemnity of the Xiaoyou artifact and the daily functionality of cultural and creative products, avoiding the excessive trivialization or commercialization of cultural symbols. On the social dimension, it is essential to address the widespread market skepticism toward baijiu cultural products as "prioritizing form over substance," emphasizing the depth and sincerity of cultural expression.
- Realization and Technology
- The bottle body is crafted from matte black ceramic, echoing the serene and rustic visual texture of the Xiaoyou vessel. Embellished with metallic gilding, the motifs and details are outlined with a lustrous finish against the subdued ceramic base, enhancing the visual depth and refinement. Components such as the bottle cap and drinking set integrate ceramic with metal materials. The gilding technique not only elevates the recognizability of cultural symbols but also imbues the artifacts with a modern elegance that is both dignified and dynamic.
- Operation and Interaction
- The owl-shaped outer lid is designed to be manually twisted open, with its opening mechanism accurately replicating the original structure of the bronze Xiaoyou artifact's lid. By restoring the usage method of this Shang Dynasty liquor vessel, users are invited to physically engage with the ceremonial context of three millennia ago through the act of opening and closing the lid. This interaction evokes vivid associations with the artifact's function and historical setting.
- Project Duration and Location
- Time: March 2023 - October 2025 Location: Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province
- Specifications
- 139mm x 137.5mm x 62.5mm
- Keywords
- Revitalized Heritage, Ancient "Angry Birds", Tangible History, The Cultural Gift, Collector’s Edition
