Silver Packaging Design · 2026
Heritage Wrap Beverage Packaging Beverage Packaging
by Kazuo Fukushima and Aya Tanaka
- A' Design Award 2026 Silver Winner in Packaging Design
- Awarded April 15, 2026
- CLIENT: Meiji China Investment Co.,Ltd.
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 18,022
- Verification code 64B632A085 · Verify this award
About Heritage Wrap Beverage Packaging Beverage Packaging
This beverage packaging design reinterprets a classic black tea latte through a contemporary graphic expression. Traditional ornamental motifs are abstracted into a continuous wrap pattern that enhances visibility from all angles while creating a rhythmic visual flow. A structured central label establishes clarity and hierarchy, balancing decorative richness with legibility. The design delivers a refined yet approachable presence, ensuring strong shelf recognition and visual consistency across diverse retail environments.
Fudesign's Heritage Wrap Beverage Packaging exemplifies the contemporary revival of folk-art traditions within commercial design contexts, demonstrating how heritage visual vocabularies may be translated into compelling shelf presence without sacrificing cultural authenticity or graphic sophistication. The design engages with decorative arts traditions through its employment of stylized avian figures and radiating floral medallions—motifs carrying deep resonance across numerous craft traditions worldwide—while reinterpreting these elements through a distinctly modern graphic lens characterized by bold color saturation, confident simplification, and strategic spatial organization. The triadic color scheme of warm orange, ultramarine blue, and golden yellow achieves remarkable chromatic equilibrium, suggesting celebratory warmth while maintaining the visual clarity essential for effective product communication. Technical accomplishment reveals itself in the seamless integration of pattern elements that flow continuously around the prismatic form, creating visual interest from multiple viewing angles while ensuring the central information panel commands appropriate hierarchical dominance. The cartouche shape—with its softly rounded shield form rendered in restful cream against surrounding chromatic intensity—provides essential visual respite and positions typographic content within a frame suggesting quality assurance and traditional craftsmanship values. One observes particular sophistication in how decorative density modulates across the surface, concentrating ornamental energy at flanking positions while allowing the central zone compositional breathing room. The viewer might contemplate how such design bridges temporal distances, honoring ancestral decorative traditions while speaking fluently in contemporary visual languages—what conversations between past and present does such synthesis invite?
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Heritage Wrap is a beverage packaging design that reinterprets a classic black tea latte through a contemporary graphic system. Traditional decorative motifs are transformed into a continuous wrap pattern that enhances shelf impact while preserving clarity and hierarchy. A structured central label anchors the composition, balancing rich visual expression with functional legibility across multiple retail orientations.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Carton package: approx. 65 mm (W) x 65 mm (D) x 160 mm (H).
Capacity: 300 mL.
Materials include laminated paperboard carton, plastic screw cap, food-grade internal coating. All specifications follow metric ISO standards. - Tags
- Packaging design, Beverage packaging, Tea drink, Cultural pattern, Graphic identity, Retail design, Chinese market, Contemporary heritage
- Production Technology
- The packaging is produced using high resolution offset printing on laminated paperboard cartons. Multi color pattern layers were carefully calibrated to ensure color consistency and alignment across folded surfaces. Matte coating is applied to improve tactile quality and reduce glare, while standard recyclable carton materials support large-scale production.
- Design Challenge
- The primary challenge was balancing decorative richness with clarity in a compact beverage format. Traditional motifs risked visual overload when applied to small surfaces and folded cartons. Through repeated iteration, scale adjustment, and layout control, the design achieves visual energy without compromising legibility, production feasibility, or retail performance.
- Project Duration
- The project started in December 2024 in Shanghai and was completed in February 2025. It was developed for Meiji China and launched commercially in the Chinese market in 2025 through nationwide retail distribution channels.
- Operation Flow
- Consumers interact with the packaging primarily through visual recognition. The all around pattern creates immediate shelf visibility from any angle, while the framed label provides clear product information at first glance. The screw-cap carton supports easy opening, resealing, and comfortable single hand use in everyday consumption scenarios.
- Research
- Type of Research: Applied design research.
Objectives: Modernize a traditional beverage visual identity.
Methodology: Visual analysis, pattern studies, packaging tests.
Tools: Market benchmarking, prototyping, print trials.
Participants: Designers and brand stakeholders.
Results: Strong shelf recognition and visual differentiation.
Impact: Reinforced brand presence through culturally adaptive design. - Inspiration
- The design was inspired by the challenge of presenting a familiar tea based beverage in a way that feels both contemporary and culturally grounded. Research into traditional textile and ornamental patterns informed a modern reinterpretation that avoids nostalgia. The goal was to translate heritage into rhythm, color, and structure that resonate with today’s urban consumers.
- Image Credits
- SHANGHAI NO PROBLEM BRAND DESIGN CO.LTD
Colors of Heritage Wrap Beverage Packaging Beverage Packaging
Grand Interview about Heritage Wrap Beverage Packaging Beverage Packaging
The starting point of this project was understanding the cultural origin of the product in Macau.During our research, we became fascinated by Azulejo tiles, which are widely found throughout Macau’s streets and architecture. Originally introduced from Portugal, Azulejos were embraced locally because their decorative qualities and color sensibilities resonated with traditional Chinese ceramics. Over time, they evolved into a unique symbol of Macau’s multicultural identity.Rather than reproducing the tiles directly, we extracted their rhythm, color relationships, and repetitive structures, translating them into a contemporary packaging graphic system. The design therefore represents not only a beverage package but also a visual expression of cultural exchange between East and West.
Our research extended beyond traditional Chinese decorative motifs to include Macau’s unique Azulejo culture.What fascinated us was that Azulejos in Macau are not simply imported Portuguese artifacts. They became part of the local visual culture through centuries of coexistence with Chinese traditions, creating a distinctive hybrid identity.Instead of replicating historical patterns, we reinterpreted the contrast of colors, geometric repetition, and rhythmic compositions found in Azulejos into a contemporary graphic language. This approach allowed the design to retain cultural depth while remaining relevant and appealing to modern consumers.
Many important design decisions emerged during physical prototyping rather than digital development.Traditional ornamental patterns often appear balanced on screen but behave differently when printed on folded cartons. Through print trials, we refined pattern density, color relationships, and layout continuity to ensure visual clarity.These tests helped us maintain the richness of the decorative system while preserving readability. The process reinforced an important lesson: packaging design is not simply graphic design applied to a surface. Material behavior fundamentally shapes visual perception.
Traditionally, patterns are often treated as decorative layers added after the communication hierarchy has been established.In Heritage Wrap, we approached pattern differently. The continuous wrap pattern became part of the communication system itself.It creates recognition from multiple viewing angles, helping consumers identify the product before reading any information. The pattern therefore functions not only as decoration but also as a tool for visibility, differentiation, and brand recognition within a crowded retail environment.
The greatest challenge was balancing decorative richness with information clarity.Early versions featured larger motifs that created strong visual impact but competed with the product name and essential information. Through multiple iterations, we refined scale relationships, repetition patterns, and visual hierarchy.The turning point came when the eye could move naturally between the decorative field and the central label. At that moment, the design achieved the balance we were seeking between cultural expression and commercial communication.
At Fudesign, we believe cultural references should be understood through their historical and social context rather than treated as decorative motifs.For this project, we studied Macau’s Azulejo culture because it represents a remarkable visual dialogue between Portuguese and Chinese traditions. What inspired us was not merely the appearance of the tiles but the way two cultures gradually merged to create something unique.By translating this concept of cultural integration into a contemporary packaging system, the design becomes more than decoration. It serves as a modern visual interpretation of Macau’s multicultural heritage.We believe successful cultural design is not about preserving visual forms, but about preserving the values and stories behind them in ways that remain meaningful for contemporary audiences.
This project reinforced our belief that cultural identity can be communicated through systems rather than symbols.Modern consumers increasingly appreciate products that carry authentic cultural meaning while maintaining contemporary aesthetics. This creates opportunities for packaging that bridges heritage and innovation.We believe future packaging design will move beyond surface decoration toward deeper cultural storytelling, where visual systems communicate both identity and relevance.
The project’s most important contribution is demonstrating that cultural heritage does not need to be preserved through literal reproduction.Consumers connect with heritage not because it is old, but because it feels meaningful, familiar, and authentic. By focusing on visual principles rather than historical imitation, we created a design that feels contemporary while retaining cultural resonance.The project suggests that cultural adaptation is not about choosing between tradition and modernity. It is about creating meaningful relationships between them.In this project, Macau provided the perfect example of how cultural memory can evolve through continuous exchange and reinterpretation.
The central label was designed as a visual anchor within a highly dynamic graphic environment.Without it, the continuous pattern risked becoming visually immersive but informationally ambiguous. We carefully studied proportions to determine the ideal balance between decoration and communication.The final structure allows the pattern to establish recognition from a distance while enabling product information to remain immediately accessible at close range. This balance was essential to the project’s success.
One of the most valuable lessons was learning to design the package as a three dimensional object rather than a collection of separate surfaces.Because the pattern extends continuously across all sides, every panel contributes to a unified visual narrative. Pattern continuity, color transitions, and rhythm were evaluated simultaneously throughout development.This project taught us that consistency does not require repetition. Different surfaces can perform different functions while still belonging to the same visual language. We believe this principle has strong potential for future retail packaging design.