Silver Packaging Design · 2026
Hellenic Routes Reusable Wine Bottle
- A' Design Award 2026 Silver Winner in Packaging Design
- Awarded April 15, 2026
- CLIENT: Elgeka
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 20,192
- Verification code 6D8AB039CB · Verify this award
About Hellenic Routes Reusable Wine Bottle
Hellenic Routes is a reusable wine bottle designed as a cultural keepsake. The rectangular glass bottle has a flat, book-like form that eases handling and storage. The labels are styled as postage stamps and show regional folklore costumes linked to Greek winemaking areas. Premium paper with textured finishes and detailed printing highlight the costume illustrations and the frame elements. The bottle measures 96 mm in width, 42 mm in depth and 175 mm in height. The form invites reuse as a collectible or decorative object.
Situated within the intersection of contemporary sustainable packaging innovation and ethnographic visual preservation, Antonia Skaraki's Hellenic Routes Reusable Wine Bottle emerges as a thoughtful meditation on regional identity, material culture, and the sensory experience of wine appreciation. The design concept deploys the visual language of philatelic ephemera, a choice that suggests correspondence between distant places and invites contemplation of terroir as cultural geography. Each vessel functions as a miniature museum vitrine, presenting meticulously rendered traditional costume illustrations that transform functional packaging into portable cultural artifacts worthy of retention and display beyond initial use. The technical accomplishment evidenced in the costume renderings demonstrates considerable facility with historical textile documentation, capturing the intricate geometric patterning, layered textile construction, and ornamental metalwork characteristic of ceremonial regional dress with ethnographic precision while maintaining illustrative warmth. The chromatic strategy proves particularly sophisticated, establishing visual differentiation between red and white wine varietals through the temperature of the depicted costumes themselves, warm burgundies and aubergines aligning with the red wine designation while cooler whites, greens, and blues correspond to the white varietal. The flask form departs from conventional cylindrical wine bottles, suggesting portability and contemporary lifestyle integration while evoking historical vessel forms predating industrial glass production. The juxtaposition of polished metallic closures against matte illustrated surfaces creates material dialogue between traditional and contemporary, handcraft and precision manufacturing. The typography maintains institutional clarity while the stamp border motif transforms commercial labeling into something approaching commemorative documentation. Viewers might consider how this design repositions the act of wine consumption as participation in cultural continuity, each refill extending the narrative connection between contemporary enjoyment and ancestral traditions of cultivation, craft, and celebration.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Hellenic Routes is more than packaging. It is a vessel of cultural storytelling. The bottle, designed like a flat book, carries labels styled as postage stamps, each adorned with regional folklore costumes. This unique approach transforms wine into a journey through Greece's winemaking landscapes, uniting tradition, identity, and modern design.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Width 96mm x Depth 42mm x Height 175mm
- Tags
- Greece, wine, packaging, design, folklore, tradition, postage stamps, heritage, storytelling, culture, philately, innovation, travel, symbolism, usability
- Production Technology
- The design uses premium paper with textured finishes to enhance the tactile quality of the stamp-like labels. Advanced printing techniques highlight costume details and frame elements, while the rectangular glass bottle recalls a travel book or keepsake. Every material and finish was selected for durability, elegance, and a narrative-rich user experience that extends beyond the wine itself.
- Design Challenge
- The challenge lay in translating Greece's vast cultural diversity into a coherent visual system. Avoiding cliches while remaining authentic required careful selection of symbols like folklore costumes and stamps. External factors such as print accuracy, label durability, and bottle ergonomics shaped the process. The result is packaging that harmonizes heritage, usability, and storytelling.
- Project Duration
- The project started in July 2021 in Athens and finished in December 2024 in Athens.
- Operation Flow
- The bottle's book-like form ensures easy handling and storage while creating a strong shelf presence. Consumers interact with the label as if receiving a letter or postcard, establishing an immediate cultural connection. The design encourages reuse as a collectible or decorative object, making the interaction both functional and symbolic. A continuous journey through Greek heritage.
- Research
- Research combined ethnography, visual studies, and cultural history to capture Greece's relationship with wine. Objectives centered on linking tradition with design through symbolism. Tools included archival research on folklore attire, philately, and regional identity. Iterations tested graphic clarity and production feasibility. Results show a packaging concept that resonates emotionally, highlighting wine as a story-rich cultural ambassador.
- Inspiration
- The inspiration comes from Greece's rich heritage, where wine, culture, and myth are deeply intertwined. The concept of a postage stamp became the bridge, symbolizing messages sent from the country's most treasured vineyards. Each illustration of traditional costumes connects the product to its place of origin, celebrating folklore and authenticity while inviting global audiences to explore Greece.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Art Director Andreas Deskas
Image #2: Art Director Andreas Deskas
Image #3: Art Director Andreas Deskas
Image #4: Art Director Andreas Deskas
Image #5: Art Director Andreas Deskas