Silver Packaging Design · 2025
Cny Design For The Year Of The Snake Milk Packaging
by Mengniu Gaoke Fresh Dairy Products
- A' Design Award 2025 Silver Winner in Packaging Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: Mengniu Gaoke Fresh Dairy Products
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 24,738
- Verification code 8D59C531A0 · Verify this award
About Cny Design For The Year Of The Snake Milk Packaging
Cny Design For The Year Of The Snake is a limited edition milk packaging label created for the Chinese Year of the Snake. The label is made of double layered transparent BOPP material. The top layer shows a geometric snake pattern that symbolizes good luck. A red triangular corner with a raised edge allows the top layer to be peeled back, revealing hidden blessings on themes such as love, wealth, career and exams. The peeling action turns drinking fresh milk into a small ritual. Localized hot stamping adds visual depth to the design.
This distinguished packaging design emerges from the rich tradition of zodiac-themed commemorative editions, where commercial objects transcend their utilitarian function to become vessels of cultural meaning and seasonal celebration. Li Huang's interpretation demonstrates exceptional sensitivity to the balance between heritage symbolism and contemporary aesthetic refinement, achieving a synthesis that honors traditional iconography while speaking with unmistakable modern sophistication. The tripartite presentation creates visual narrative through variation, the central vessel commanding attention with its fully realized chromatic serpent while companion bottles offer elegant restatements in restrained gold line work, suggesting different expressions of a single auspicious theme. The designer's chromatic decisions reveal careful consideration of cultural resonance: vermillion red carries profound associations with good fortune and vitality, while gold metallic treatments evoke abundance and precious value, and the pristine white grounds suggest purity and fresh beginnings appropriate to new year celebrations. Technical accomplishment manifests in the seamless integration of multiple surface treatments, from the granular metallic textures of neck bands to the smooth illustrated passages on body surfaces, each transition handled with precision that rewards close examination. The serpent itself receives interpretation that emphasizes positive attributes traditionally associated with this zodiac sign: wisdom, transformation, and protective energy, rendered with sinuous grace that transforms a creature sometimes viewed with ambivalence into an unambiguously auspicious presence. The floral medallions punctuating the serpentine bands introduce additional symbolic layers, suggesting renewal, beauty, and the eternal cycles of nature that annual celebrations mark. Viewers might contemplate how such packaging transforms quotidian consumption into participatory ritual, inviting those who encounter these vessels to engage with deeper currents of cultural continuity and hopeful anticipation.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The limited edition packaging features an innovative interactive element peeling off the label. The top layer of the label exhibits a snake pattern symbolizing good luck, which can be lifted to uncover six hidden blessings on the lower layer including love, wealth, career, and exams. The act of peeling off the label delivers a sense of ritualistic excitement for consumers, just like drawing lots, enhancing the interactive appeal and emotional significance of the packaging.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- 1L: 90 x 248 ，
720ML: 80 x 227 ，
250ML: 52 x 136 - Tags
- Year of the snake, Zodiac, Milk, Packaging,Good luck
- Production Technology
- The packaging design for the Year of the Snake utilizes a double layered transparent BOPP material. Synchronized printing process is operated to guarantee accurate pattern alignment. Localized hot stamping technology is employed to elevate the visual hierarchy and impart a sense of luxury. Following the printing process, the two layers are accurately laminated and die-cut, resulting in a complete and refined label design that is aesthetically engaging and durable.
- Design Challenge
- Making double layer labels presented the most significant challenge. Managing the thickness of the labels proved to be a complex issue. Since the product must be refrigerated, condensation may lead to slippage of the bottle, resulting in recurring issues such as air bubbles and inadequate adhesion. The team consistently refined choices regarding materials, bonding techniques, and labeling technologies to guarantee the stability and visual appeal of the final labels in a refrigerated condition.
- Project Duration
- The project commenced in August 2024 in Shanghai, China, with an expected completion date in November 2025 at the same venue. The product is set to be launched in online and physical stores on 1 December 2024, targeting at supermarkets and online platforms in major cities throughout China, with sales extending until 15 February 2025.
- Operation Flow
- The upper right section of the front label features a prominent triangular red indicator corner label, which acts as a navigational element for users. The inclusion of a raised edge at this corner allows consumers to effortlessly peel back the upper label with a simple snap. This design not only improves the intuitiveness and ease of the user experience but also provides a visual cue that inspires the consumer curiosity and encourages interaction.
- Research
- In the initial stage of design, we gathered data regarding the social and economic downturn, analyzed consumer psychology, and discovered that consumers often seek comfort in symbols of good fortune, but harbor a fear of snakes. Consequently, we simplified and stylized the snake in our design, integrating the element of good luck and retaining the brand identity. Following the completion of the package design, the market research was conducted to gauge public opinion.
- Inspiration
- In 2025, which marks the Year of the Snake in the Chinese calendar, the company recognizes the need for positive emotional energy among consumers amid global economic challenges. The packaging design was inspired from the Chinese Zodiac snake, integrating the traditional snake motif with contemporary visual language through geometric reinterpretation. It incorporates elements that symbolize good fortune, establishing a visual system that fosters cultural recognition.
- Image Credits
- Mengniu Gaoke Fresh Dairy Products