Press Release
Mountain River and Sage Baijiu Gift Set by Yao Wu Wins the Silver A' Design Award in Packaging Design
Yao Wu acknowledged for packaging design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 22, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ Mountain River and Sage Baijiu Gift Set by Yao Wu, designed for Guizhou Jinsha Liquor Wine Cellar Co., Ltd., has been granted the Silver A' Design Award in the Packaging Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The recognition forms part of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined 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 Mountain River and Sage Baijiu Gift Set
Mountain River and Sage is a gift set packaging design for baijiu, a Chinese distilled spirit. The outer sleeve is made of matte white art paper with a minimalist bronze foil stamped pattern. Inside, a codex style box of engineered wood with oak veneer opens like a book. The inner lid unfolds into a panoramic illustration of Mount Tai and the Yellow River, printed on textured paper, framing three bottles and a certificate. The design draws on the cultural geography of Shandong Province. A minimalist and modern approach replaces the retro styling common in liquor packaging.
About Yao Wu
I'm Wu Yao，In 2019, Beijing Satellite TV invited the designer of the second season of the National Palace Museum, the official cultural and creative designer of Wudang Mountain, the designer recommended by Zhan Ku, the annual cooperative designer of shede liquor industry, and the special designer of the culture and Tourism Bureau of Xi'an Qujiang Management Committee.
Award Record
This recognition makes Yao Wu a winner of 16 A' Design Awards. The awards span the editions from 2022 - 2023 to 2025 - 2026 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. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to packaging designers, graphic designers, branding agencies and product manufacturers from all countries. Entries typically include bottles, boxes, cans, pouches, tubes and cartons. Awarded packaging designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/packaging
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission 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. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated 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. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates 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, the upload of a work and the 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. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/182319
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/182319
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!182319
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/325136
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
###
Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Mountain River and Sage Baijiu Gift Set
- Function
- Baijiu Gift Set
- Category
- Packaging Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Packaging & Retail, Branding & Advertising and Manufacturing
- Colors
- Saddle Brown, Linen, Maroon, Peru and Tan
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Guizhou Jinsha Liquor Wine Cellar Co., Ltd.
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Yao Wu
- Country
- China
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #182319
Credits
- Team
- Wu Yao , llustration designer: Zhang Yi, Illustration designer: Yang Xiaogang , Illustration designer: Li Yan, Graphic designer: Zheng Ziyang, Graphic designer: Zhao Yuehao, Graphic designer:Zhang YUchen，Graphic designer:Tan Zhen，3D Designer: Liao Hao ， Copywriting: Xu Xiaohui，Copywriting:Tang Wenhu
- Image Credits
- /
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- This design is a complete ceremonial unboxing experience meticulously crafted for the high-end gifting market. Its core innovation lies in a three level narrative progression, transforming the packaging from a mere container into a spiritual and cultural journey.
- Inspiration
- The inspiration is drawn from the profound cultural geography of Shandong Province, symbolized by "One Mountain , One River , and One Saint ." We sought to break away from intricate retro styling commonly found in liquor packaging. Instead, we used a minimalist and modern ritualistic approach to carry this heavy cultural heritage.
- Research
- This research explores how to translate the traditional Chinese cultural symbol "Li" through modern packaging language. Taking Shandong's "One Mountain, One River, One Saint" as the cultural matrix, it investigates a progressive unboxing experience from visual to tactile, from form to spirit, achieving contemporary expression of tradition in gifting scenarios.
- Challenge
- How to embody profound Confucian culture within minimalist modern aesthetics without falling into superficial retro styling? The design solves through three ritual layers white box establishes modern ceremony, wooden box transforms into codex form, landscape scroll triggers spiritual resonance allowing "Li" to be seen, touched, and felt in the unboxing moment.
- Realization and Technology
- The outer box utilizes premium matte white art paper with precision foil stamping for the minimalist bronze pattern to achieve a modern, luxurious feel. The inner codex box is constructed from lightweight, high density engineered wood with a natural oak veneer, providing a warm, tactile finish. The inner landscape panel is printed on textured museum quality paper to enhance the artistic scroll effect. Bottle labels feature a subtle relief printing technique to complement the packaging‘s refined aesthetic.
- Operation and Interaction
- Reveal The user removes the sleek white outer sleeve, revealing the wooden "codex." This act signifies moving from the public brand promise to a personal discovery. Open Lifting the wooden cover mimics opening a treasured book. The user is greeted not just by the product, but by the texture and smell of wood, creating an intimate prelude. Unfold: The inner lid, designed as a multi page spread, unfolds to display a panoramic illustration of Mount Tai and the Yellow River. This "landscape scroll" frames the three bottles and the certificate, elevating the extraction of the product to a moment of spiritual appreciation.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in Beijing in October 2025 and was completed in Beijing in December 2025.
- Specifications
- Length 300mm x Width 240mm x Height 190mm
- Keywords
- Premium Gift, Baijiu Packaging, Ritualistic Design, Confucian Culture, Mount Tai,
