Iron Packaging Design · 2026
Excelencia Coffee Packaging
by Tipz
- A' Design Award 2026 Iron Winner in Packaging Design
- Awarded April 15, 2026
- CLIENT: Guardiao
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 5,433
- Verification code 71256FA8E4 · Verify this award
About Excelencia Coffee Packaging
The Guardiao Excelencia coffee packaging employs a visual language derived from the iconography of a guardian archangel. Low relief embossing on the exterior renders the protective wing motif in tactile form, inviting physical engagement before the container is opened. A precision wing shaped die cut defines the opening panel, transforming the act of access into a deliberate ritual. A gold hot stamp seal on the front face marks individual producer recognition. Soft touch matte lamination across all surfaces reinforces material quality and provides contrast to the structural embossed relief.
Tipz's Excelencia Coffee Packaging engages the evolving visual language of specialty coffee culture, a commercial sector that has increasingly embraced artisanal aesthetics, craft authenticity signals, and design sophistication as differentiating strategies within competitive retail environments, where packaging functions simultaneously as protective container, brand ambassador, shelf presence communicator, and cultural artifact encoding the values and aspirations of both producer and consumer within a complex semiotic system. The structural format selected, a gable-top carton with its distinctive peaked closure, references dairy packaging heritage while suggesting freshness, careful sealing, and product protection, the form itself carrying nostalgic resonance with wholesome provisions and daily ritual objects, the architecture providing substantial surface area for graphic communication across multiple viewing angles and creating dimensional interest through its geometric faceting and angular silhouette that catches light dynamically and commands shelf attention through vertical emphasis. The graphic system demonstrates considerable compositional intelligence through its strategic deployment of contrasting approaches across product variants, the white ground version suggesting purity, clarity, specialty grade excellence, and refined simplicity aligned with Scandinavian minimalism and contemporary clean aesthetic movements, while the bold red version projects warmth, energy, passion, intensity, and traditional coffee culture associations with earthy richness and robust flavor profiles, this chromatic differentiation enabling instant visual distinction between product offerings while maintaining family resemblance through repeated structural elements and graphic motifs. The wing illustration stands as the design's most arresting feature, executed with remarkable linear precision and decorative flourish that balances naturalistic feather anatomy with stylized pattern-making, the motif suggesting elevation, excellence, aspiration toward quality, the flight of flavor or aroma, perhaps mythological associations with divine messengers or protective emblems, the detailed rendering demonstrating craft and care in execution that metaphorically extends to the product within, the wrapping gesture of the wing around the package corner creating dynamic movement and three-dimensional awareness that activates the container as sculptural form rather than mere flat surface. The circular solar emblem provides geometric counterpoint to the organic wing curves, its radiating linear elements suggesting illumination, awakening, the dawn ritual of coffee preparation, energy and vitality, geographic origin in sun-favored growing regions, the centralized letterform anchoring identity while the emanating rays create dynamic centrifugal energy, the combination of wing and sun forming a symbolic pairing of earth and sky, organic and cosmic, the particular and universal. Typography serves hierarchical and functional roles with confidence, the bold "CAFÉ" in strong red providing immediate category recognition and warm associative color psychology, the vertical "EXCELENCIA" asserting quality positioning and creating strong directional movement that guides the eye and emphasizes the package height, the term itself suggesting superiority, careful selection, and premium tier placement within product ranges, the lower label band in dark tones with reversed typography and metallic accent suggesting craft credentials, origin information, technical specifications, and artisanal provenance that appeals to knowledgeable enthusiast audiences seeking transparency and authenticity. The photographic presentation itself merits attention as a considered curatorial gesture, the elevation of one package upon a plinth suggesting museum-quality regard, artifact status, and design appreciation beyond mere commercial transaction, inviting viewers to contemplate the package as designed object worthy of aesthetic consideration, the pairing of variants demonstrating system thinking and brand architecture while the neutral white environment focuses attention entirely upon the design objects without distraction or competing visual information, the soft professional lighting and precise shadow control indicating sophisticated production values that honor the design work through appropriate presentation methodology, this Iron recognition within the packaging design award context affirming both the commercial effectiveness and the aesthetic achievement of work that successfully bridges functional commercial requirements with visual culture contribution, inviting those who encounter these packages to consider how everyday objects carry meaning, how design choices encode values and aspirations, and how the ritual objects of daily life merit thoughtful creation and appreciative attention.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Guardiao Excelencia packaging creates a multi-sensory identity for premium Conilon. Low-relief embossing turns the guardian wings into a 3D texture on the surface, adding sophistication without extra ink. A wing-shaped die-cut forms the opening, while a gold hot-stamp seal honors each producer. Soft-touch matte lamination boosts contrast. After the Jan 2025 launch, Natural sales rose 50% and Fermented 30%.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Package dimensions: 110 mm x 220 mm. Structured cardboard substrate. Exterior finish: soft-touch matte lamination. Surface treatment: low-relief embossing on wing motif panel. Opening mechanism: precision wing-shaped die-cut flap. Front accent: gold hot-stamp producer seal. Contents: roasted and ground conilon coffee. Two product variants presented in the same structural format: Natural and Fermented.
- Tags
- Coffee Packaging, Conilon Coffee, Specialty Coffee, Embossed Packaging, Brazilian Coffee, Archangel, Cooperative, Premium Packaging, Sensory Design, Producer Recognition
- Production Technology
- The packaging is produced in structured cardboard with soft-touch matte lamination applied to all exterior surfaces. The guardian wing motif is rendered through low-relief embossing without additional ink or foil, allowing the texture to communicate through light and touch alone. The opening panel follows a precision wing-shaped die-cut, which is a structural feature derived directly from the brand iconography. A hot-stamped gold foil seal is applied to the front face to mark individual producer recognition. All production processes are compatible with mid-run commercial printing.
- Design Challenge
- The primary challenge was overcoming established market perception of conilon coffee as an inferior variety. Designing credible premium packaging for a product with a historically stigmatized reputation required a strategy that was both visually grounded and commercially viable. The identity needed to stand apart from arabica-focused premium brands on shared retail shelving while remaining true to the cooperative's agricultural heritage. A secondary constraint was translating symbolic complexity, the archangel iconography and wing geometry, into production-feasible structural and print techniques at a mid-run scale.
- Project Duration
- The project was developed in Vitoria, Espirito Santo, Brazil. The designed packaging was launched commercially in March 2025.
- Operation Flow
- The package is opened by lifting two lateral wing-shaped flaps that replicate the archangel wing geometry of the visual identity. This opening gesture functions as a structured ritual: the wings unfold outward, framing the moment of first access to the product. Before the package is opened, the gold producer seal on the front face communicates origin and individual recognition. The embossed wing surface and the soft matte finish invite tactile engagement throughout handling. The overall interaction is designed to slow the act of opening and increase perceived value at the point of experience.
- Research
- Qualitative research was conducted to understand consumer perception of conilon coffee within the premium specialty segment. Research objectives focused on identifying barriers to premiumization for this Brazilian variety and defining visual strategies to address them. Methods included field interviews with cooperative members and retail shelf observation. The archangel symbolism emerged from cultural and geographic immersion in the Espirito Santo region. Post-launch commercial data served as a quantitative measure of outcome, with the Natural variant recording a 50 percent sales increase and the Fermented variant a 30 percent increase.
- Inspiration
- Inspired by Saint Gabriel the Archangel and the coffee lands of Saint Gabriel da Palha, Espirito Santo, Brazil, the name was chosen by a priest to declare that the region’s livelihood is blessed and protected. That belief becomes design: a pack that opens through wing-shaped flaps, a physical seal that unfolds to reveal the coffee and suggest protection from farm to cup. It elevates Conilon beyond commodity, celebrating traceable origin, craftsmanship, and local pride.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Photographer Gabriel Mendes, 2025
Image #2: Photographer Gabriel Mendes, 2025
Image #3: Photographer Gabriel Mendes, 2025
Image #4: Photographer Gabriel Mendes, 2025
Image #5: Photographer Gabriel Mendes, 2025
Colors of Excelencia Coffee Packaging
Design Interview about Excelencia Coffee Packaging
The inspiration came from the name of the city where the cooperative is based: São Gabriel da Palha. Saint Gabriel is an archangel, a guardian. From that single observation, a whole system of meaning unfolded. The concept of a guardian watching over the beans, the farmers, and the consumer became the soul of the brand. In the Excelência line, that concept was taken to its fullest expression: the archangel's wing is not just an illustration, it defines the actual opening structure of the packaging. Opening the product is a gesture of protection.
The focus was to create packaging worthy of the coffee it contains. Guardião Excelência is a cooperative-origin product, produced by family farmers, with quality that deserved to be communicated in a noble and distinctive way. We wanted the consumer to feel, even before opening, that they were holding something special. And for the act of opening to confirm that promise.
The project has already delivered concrete results: revenue doubled. Café Guardião Excelência is now ready to take flight across Brazil and beyond.
The full process, from initial immersion at the cooperative through final production approval, took several months. The concept phase was the most intensive, where the system of meaning around the archangel consolidated and the structural decision of the wing-shaped opening was developed and tested. Once the central idea was established, the visual development, material selection, and finishing tests followed in a more linear way.
The project was commissioned by Cooabriel to create a premium line within the Guardião brand. From that brief, the immersion process revealed the direction: if the regular line already carried the guardian archangel concept, the Excelência line should take it to its fullest expression. The idea of transforming the opening of the package into a structural gesture came from the question: what would be the archangel's ultimate act of protection? Opening its wings. That answer became the packaging.
The packaging is in production and being sold by Cooabriel itself, through Indústria Café Guardião. The product has been expanding its presence in retail chains and food service accounts in the Greater Vitória region and across the north and northwest of Espírito Santo.
The combination of the conceptual challenge and the human weight behind the product. When a brief carries that meaning, design stops being aesthetic and becomes an argument. The Excelência line represented the opportunity to take that argument to its highest level: packaging that not only communicates quality, but demonstrates it in every structural and sensory detail.
More than direct packaging design references, what influences our work is a repertoire accumulated over time. The tradition of engraving-style illustration and the power of expressive typography were present in the process. Nothing too specific or academic; it is more about absorbing a great deal and letting that show naturally in the decisions.
The Excelência line consumer is someone who seeks a coffee of distinctive origin and quality, willing to pay a premium price for a product that carries traceability, cooperative identity, and sensory experience from the packaging itself. It is also a product with strong potential for the food service channel and the export market, where the narrative of Brazilian cooperative origin carries growing value.
The wing-shaped opening. Most premium coffee packaging invests in noble materials and elaborate illustrations, but the structure remains conventional. In Guardião Excelência, the guardian archangel concept was not limited to the visual: it determined the structure of the packaging. The front panel is die-cut in the shape of a wing and opens like a flap, transforming an everyday gesture into a moment loaded with meaning. Concept and structure are the same thing.
The name Guardião already existed within the brand. This was the creation of the Excelência line within the Guardião universe. The challenge was to honor and elevate what the name carried: the idea of the archangel Saint Gabriel as protector of the beans, the farmers, and the consumer, and to translate that into packaging worthy of both the concept and the product.
The process began in an analog way: brainstorming sessions, field research on supermarket shelves, and immersion at the cooperative. From there, the visual development was led by designer Mateus Montenegro using the Adobe suite. There were multiple rounds of physical material and finishing samples, including dry embossing on the wing, gold hot stamping, soft touch matte lamination, and the development of the structural die-cut that defines the opening.
The front panel die-cut in the shape of the archangel's wing, which opens to provide access to the product. It is not a decorative element on the packaging: it is the packaging. The wing literally protects what is inside, and opening it is the guardian's gesture of revealing what it has kept safe. It is the point where concept, structure, and user experience become one thing.
O projeto foi desenvolvido pela Tipz com uma equipe multidisciplinar. A imersão e o planejamento estratégico contaram com Mariana Kawase e Lygia Bellotti. A direção de criação foi conduzida por mim, Ricardo Pessanha, e a execução visual pelo designer Mateus Montenegro, parceiro criativo de longa data com vasto portfólio em design de embalagem. A produção gráfica envolveu fornecedores especializados em acabamentos premium, com quem trabalhamos em conjunto para validar as amostras de material.
Technology played a central role in execution, but never as a starting point. The dry embossing on the wing, the gold hot stamping, and the soft touch matte lamination were chosen not just for aesthetic result, but because each reinforced the concept: tactile nobility, visual presence, and texture contrast that invites touch. The structural die-cut of the opening required specific technical development with the supplier to ensure precision and integrity of the flap after multiple openings.
: Yes. We conducted market research and competitor analysis directly on supermarket shelves. That contact with the real purchase environment was decisive in understanding what needed to happen at the point of sale and how the packaging should behave alongside competitors.
The central challenge was repositioning a coffee variety historically associated with low quality into something premium. Made harder by the fact that two previous launches had not achieved the desired results, leaving negative brand memory in the market. The redesign needed to make a complete visual break from that history without losing the authenticity of the cooperative origin. Competitive shelf pressure demanded bold differentiation, and the development of the structural wing-shaped die-cut opening required multiple testing rounds with the supplier to ensure precision and functionality within viable costs.
The decision came from the conviction that the work had relevance beyond the local market. Guardião Excelência is not just a well-executed package; it is a design case with measurable impact on business results and real social impact for a cooperative that sustains thousands of families. Submitting to the A' Design Award was a way of placing that work in dialogue with the best projects in the world and of positioning Tipz, and Brazilian design outside the main axis, on an international stage.
I learned that the strongest concept is one that does not fit only in the visual: it spills into the structure, the touch, the gesture. The decision to make the wing the opening of the packaging was not obvious at first; it emerged from asking how far the concept could go. This project reinforced for me that the right question, taken all the way, always generates the most original answer.
I would like to reinforce the role of design as a tool for economic and social development. Guardião Excelência doubled its revenue after the relaunch, without any supporting advertising campaign. That result was generated exclusively by the strength of design at the point of sale. For a cooperative that represents the livelihood of thousands of farming families in Espírito Santo, that number carries a weight that goes far beyond any award.
Grand Interview about Excelencia Coffee Packaging
The idea became clear when we realized that the guardian concept could not live only as an illustration. If the coffee was symbolically protected by the wings of Saint Gabriel the Archangel, the package itself needed to behave like a guardian. That was the moment when the opening mechanism became central to the project.We wanted the consumer to open the package through the wings, almost as if revealing something that had been protected from the farm to the cup. This transformed a functional gesture into a small ritual. The wing-shaped die-cut, the low-relief embossing and the soft-touch matte finish were all developed to support that same idea: protection made visible, tactile and memorable.From that insight, every decision had to serve the concept. The structure could not be only beautiful. It had to make the story physically present. For us, the strongest part of Excelencia Coffee Packaging is exactly this: the brand promise is not only printed on the surface. It is experienced by the hand.
We interpret these results as evidence that packaging can change perception when it works beyond visual impact. Excelencia Coffee Packaging was designed to be seen, touched and opened as an experience. For a product like Conilon coffee, which still carries a historical stigma when compared to Arabica, this sensory dimension was essential. The consumer needed to feel that this coffee belonged to a different value space.The first post-launch data already showed strong results: Natural increased 50 percent and Fermented increased 30 percent. In a later assessment, the performance became even more significant, with sales reaching 100 percent growth. In other words, the line effectively doubled its sales.For Tipz, this confirms that multi-sensory design can help consumers reassess a product before tasting it. The embossed wings, the soft-touch surface, the structural opening and the producer seal all worked together to create trust, curiosity and perceived quality. The package did not only communicate premium value. It made that value tangible.
The low-relief embossing was developed to create sophistication without depending on excess. We did not want the wings to shout. We wanted them to appear through light, shadow and touch, almost like a quiet presence protecting the coffee. This was important because the project needed to feel premium while remaining coherent with a cooperative context.The testing process was focused on balance. The relief needed to be visible enough to create discovery, but subtle enough to preserve elegance and production viability. We studied how the wing motif behaved under different light conditions, how it interacted with the matte surface and how much tactile presence was necessary for the consumer to perceive value without turning the package into something visually overloaded.This approach shows that premiumization does not always require expensive decorative effects. For agricultural cooperatives, sensory material design can be a powerful and accessible tool when used with precision. A texture, a fold, a surface or a small structural decision can create perceived value while still respecting production limits and the economic reality of the brand.
We treated this narrative with respect because it was not an invented brand story. It came from the name, the territory and the belief that coffee, the region’s main livelihood, was blessed and protected by Saint Gabriel the Archangel. Our responsibility was to translate that meaning into a retail object without making it superficial or decorative.The visual language was built around protection, origin and recognition. The wings became the central symbol. The opening mechanism turned protection into a physical gesture. The tactile relief gave the guardian presence without needing to explain everything through words. The producer seal brought the farming families into the front of the package, acknowledging that excellence comes from people, not only from a product category.In this sense, Excelencia Coffee Packaging works as both branding and cultural documentation. It builds a premium perception for the consumer, but it also preserves part of the community’s story. The package carries the geography, the spiritual reference, the cooperative identity and the pride of the farmers in a form that can travel beyond the region and still keep its origin alive.
The field research showed us that the biggest barrier was not the quality of the coffee. It was the perception around Conilon. Many consumers and buyers were conditioned to associate premium coffee with Arabica, while Conilon was often seen as a commodity. That finding changed the direction of the project. We understood that the package needed to make a visual argument for value before the first sip.The interviews with cooperative members revealed the pride, care and technical knowledge behind the product. The retail observations showed that most premium cues in the category were very predictable. This combination led us to create a different premium language: one based on origin, protection, tactile discovery and producer recognition.The most important finding was that Conilon did not need to imitate Arabica to become more valuable. It needed to be presented with its own dignity. That shaped the wing-shaped opening, the embossed guardian motif, the soft-touch finish, the refined color system and the producer seal. Every element was designed to say: this coffee has its own story, its own excellence and its own right to be perceived as premium.
The producer seal came from a very important conversation about recognition. In a cooperative system, collective identity is essential, but we also wanted to honor the individual farmers whose coffees were selected. Excellence does not happen anonymously. It comes from specific families, specific farms and specific decisions made throughout the production process.That is why the seal was placed on the front face and treated with gold hot stamp. It needed visibility and dignity. It could not be hidden as secondary information. At the same time, it was not designed as a generic premium badge. Its role was to recognize the producer and connect the consumer to the human origin of the coffee.The production decision helped reinforce that meaning. Gold hot stamp gives the seal presence, but the concept gives it legitimacy. Without the producer story, it would only be decoration. With that story, it becomes a mark of pride, authorship and respect inside a cooperative framework. It reminds the consumer that this package represents not only a premium coffee, but also the people who made it possible.
Excelencia Coffee Packaging reinforced something we believe strongly at Tipz: origin-specific products need design systems that reveal their truth instead of applying generic premium codes. The methodology behind this project, combining research, cultural immersion, retail observation and sensory design, will continue to shape the way we approach packaging briefs for agricultural and cooperative brands.For future projects, we see strong potential in structural gestures, material storytelling and producer recognition. Many agricultural products have deep cultural and human narratives, but they are often presented in a purely functional way. Packaging can help transform these stories into perceived value without losing authenticity.There are still dimensions to explore. The wing language can evolve into secondary packaging, gifting formats, limited editions and point-of-sale experiences. The producer recognition system can become even more personal and traceable. The tactile vocabulary can also expand, creating different levels of discovery across product lines. The lesson is clear: when structure, material and story work together, packaging can become a strategic business tool, not only a container.
I believe the public conversation around design recognition often focuses on the final object, but not enough on what design can unlock for the communities behind that object. In Excelencia Coffee Packaging, the package is beautiful and carefully crafted, but the most important aspect is what it helped make visible: the value of Conilon coffee, the pride of the producers and the cultural strength of São Gabriel da Palha.The A’ Design Award recognition is important because it gives international visibility to a project rooted in a very specific agricultural context. But the retail results are equally meaningful because they show that design recognition and business performance should walk together. This project did not only win attention. It helped the product sell, helped consumers reassess a stigmatized variety and helped the cooperative communicate excellence with more confidence.What is sometimes underdiscussed is that packaging can be a form of economic dignity. When it gives a historically undervalued product a stronger voice, it can influence how buyers, consumers and even producers perceive its value. For us, that is one of the most powerful roles design can play: not only creating desire, but helping a community’s work be seen, respected and valued.
The sensory sequence was very consciously choreographed. We wanted the consumer to discover the package in stages. From a distance, the structure, color and front composition create premium shelf presence. At arm’s reach, the wing shape and the producer seal begin to reveal the story. In the hand, the soft-touch matte lamination and the embossed relief slow down the experience and invite closer attention.This was important because Excelencia Coffee Packaging needed to make quality perceptible before reading. The consumer should feel that the product is special even before processing the copy. The contrast between the smooth matte surface and the wing relief creates that moment of discovery.We explored different material possibilities during development, but many options either felt too decorative or too distant from the cooperative nature of the brand. The final vocabulary was chosen because it was refined, tactile and meaningful without becoming excessive. The package needed elegance, not noise. The materials had to support the guardian concept and the premium positioning in a way that felt natural to the product’s origin.
The main principle was to keep the structural and symbolic system consistent while allowing each variant to express its own sensory identity. Natural and Fermented are different processing methods, with different flavor profiles and production stories, so they could not feel like the same product with only a small label change. At the same time, they needed to belong to the same Excelencia family.We solved this through a shared architecture: the wing-shaped opening, the guardian concept, the producer seal, the premium finish and the overall hierarchy remain consistent. Differentiation happens through color, supporting details and the way each variant expresses its own character within the same framework.For designers working with artisan or cooperative food producers, I would suggest starting with what must never change. That is the identity core. Then define what can change to express variety. A good range system is not rigid, but it is disciplined. It gives each product enough personality while protecting the memory of the brand. In Excelencia Coffee Packaging, cohesion comes from the guardian. Differentiation comes from the coffee itself.