Silver Packaging Design · 2025
West Lake Beer Packaging
by China Resources Snow Breweries
- A' Design Award 2025 Silver Winner in Packaging Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: China Resources Snow Breweries
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 28,013
- Verification code C9862E662D · Verify this award
About West Lake Beer Packaging
West Lake Beer is a packaging design for bottled beer. The design draws on the scenery of West Lake in Hangzhou, interpreting the Broken Bridge and Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon as abstract visual symbols. The typography combines seal script with the calligraphy style of the Song Dynasty. The outer box is finished with gold stamping and a matte film for a smooth tactile quality. The bottle is made of high quality green glass, which limits ultraviolet light and helps preserve the flavour of the beer. Stone towers shown on the bottle indicate the intensity of each flavour.
This distinguished packaging design exemplifies the sophisticated integration of cultural heritage with contemporary visual communication strategies, demonstrating how regional brewing traditions may be honored through thoughtful material and graphic choices that resonate across cultural boundaries. The emerald glass vessel, a material choice evoking both ecological consciousness and historical brewing conventions, serves as the primary canvas upon which brand identity unfolds through carefully considered typographic hierarchies and chromatic relationships. The design team appears to have embraced a philosophy of purposeful restraint, allowing the natural beauty of the green-tinted glass to communicate quality and tradition while the white label band introduces necessary informational content without overwhelming the material presence of the container itself. The bilingual approach to typography suggests an awareness of diverse markets and audiences, with the prominent calligraphic characters establishing cultural authenticity while Western letterforms ensure accessibility and international legibility. Compositional decisions evident in the presentation photography further amplify the packaging's inherent qualities, the bold diagonal green plane creating a visual environment that celebrates rather than competes with the bottle's elegant form. This interplay between product and presentation context demonstrates sophisticated understanding of how packaging functions not merely as container but as communicative vessel carrying brand values, regional identity, and quality associations. The wave-like graphic element visible on the label introduces organic fluidity into the otherwise geometric composition, perhaps referencing water sources, landscape features, or the flowing nature of the beverage itself. One might consider how this design balances transparency and opacity, revelation and concealment, as the clear lower portion invites viewers to witness the golden contents while the labeled section maintains appropriate mystery and brand presence, a dynamic that mirrors the broader relationship between tradition and innovation the design seems to navigate with evident grace.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The packaging design of West Lake Beer incorporates cultural symbols and aesthetic features of West Lake, artistically interpreting elements such as Broken Bridge and Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon. It further blends typography and font design of Chinese aesthetics to create a packaging image that exudes classical flavour while maintaining a modern feeling. This design allows consumers not only to savour the beer but also to experience the charm of West Lake and its cultural significance.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- product dimensions, 64.5 mm x 64.5 mm x 250 mm
- Tags
- Beer packaging, West Lake iconic elements, Seal script font, Song Dynasty calligraphy typography, Eastern aesthetics
- Production Technology
- The exterior box is crafted with a gold stamping process, enhancing its visual appeal and offering consumers a unique tactile experience.
The bottle is constructed from high quality green glass, providing excellent optical protection that minimizes the potential for UV light to interact with beer compounds and cause odors or oxidation, preserving the freshness and flavor profile of the beer. - Design Challenge
- The challenge is capturing the cultural essence of West Lake. The West Lake Beer font mimics the graceful arch of the Broken Bridge, and some strokes resemble the soaring eaves of the mid lake pavilion, integrating West Lake aesthetics and seal script.
The label is inspired by Song Dynasty calligraphy, from right to left, with a negative silhouette of Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon. Consumers can feel the profound Chinese aesthetics and the ethereal beauty of West Lake while enjoying the beer. - Project Duration
- The project was designed and developed in December 2022 in Beijing.
- Operation Flow
- The Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon stone towers are designed to represent the varying intensities of the beer flavors on the bottle. This visual arrangement enhances the sensory exploration of taste and promotes social interaction among consumers during the savoring. The outer box is made of matte film with great texture, which offers a delicate tactile experience with jade like warmness and smoothness, further reflecting the cultural richness and high quality of the West Lake Beer brand.
- Research
- Through extensive research and excavation of West Lake culture, the design team has effectively translated the natural beauty and humanistic landscape of West Lake into visual elements incorporated into the beer packaging design. This process not only elevates the cultural and artistic value of the product but also serves as a valuable reference for the modernization and evolution of traditional beer brands.
- Inspiration
- Inspired by the renowned natural and cultural landscape, West Lake in Hangzhou, the design elevates the cultural added value of the beer through the utilization of colors, patterns, and materials. The design team selected the West Lake sceneries, the Broken Bridge and Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon, and interpreted them into visual symbols abstractly and artistically. They were blended into every facet of the packaging, making it a medium for expressing the cultural connotation of West Lake.
Colors of West Lake Beer Packaging
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