Redefining Baijiu: Sinong Wu - The Designer Bringing Cultural Depth to Modern Packaging

I am proud to have successfully won the gold award through my design work, 'Jingpai Fangzhuang Liquor'.

Winning the gold award means that the design work has reached an international leading level in innovation, practicality, aesthetics, and other aspects. This honor is a high recognition of the professional ability of the designer and the team. 

This achievement has helped establish a professional image within the industry, enhance individual and team visibility and influence. Of course, this is still a huge motivation that helps to stimulate creative enthusiasm and innovation ability, driving me to constantly pursue excellence on the path of design.

Of course, winning this award has brought us many positive impacts. Professional reputation enhancement: Winning a gold award will greatly enhance my reputation in the packaging industry and receive more attention within the industry.

Career path expansion: The gold award may attract more high-end clients and projects, opening up broader career development opportunities for oneself and the design team.

In addition, our award-winning work this time belongs to Erguotou Baijiu, which is a daily drinking wine in China. The design of similar products is very ordinary. 

Our design this time fully allows the entire industry to feel the empowerment that design brings to products. In Beijing, many distillery managers have expressed their love and concern for our design.

I believe that experiments play a core role in breaking through tradition, stimulating innovation, and enhancing user experience during the creative process. It is also a bridge for exploring form and function, and a key means of integrating brand culture, consumer psychology, and material science.

In this design, we conducted new experimental attempts; In product design, especially for the design of bottled wine, it is difficult for him to fully explain the historical and cultural aspects of the product compared to boxed wine. He only has one bottle and there is not much space for me to create.

We directly carve the historical and cultural characteristics of the product onto the grinding tool in the design, and integrate them with the material to present them on the bottle body. 

This not only saves space but also allows the historical and cultural aspects of the product to appear in front of consumers. At the same time, avoid using more printing materials, which is environmentally friendly; At the same time, it saves production costs and can benefit consumers; It can be said to achieve multiple benefits in one fell swoop!

This is precisely the value that experiments give to design, ultimately achieving a dual breakthrough in commercial value and cultural significance.

This design is obviously unusual, as most Ergotou Liquor categories will directly use specific Beijing architectural patterns to reflect, such as the Temple of Heaven and so on.

In this design, I utilized consumers' impressions of Beijing to design the product. In terms of appearance, consumers can clearly feel that the product comes from Beijing and has its iconic architectural style.

The most unusual inspiration that I understand often comes from the habitual design of innovation, discovering new things from a new perspective - interpreting the logic behind consumption, and then transforming it into solutions to consumer needs.

I have been working in the packaging design industry for over 10 years now, and it can be seen that my design is not just about design itself, but also a summary of my years of focus on the liquor design industry, integrating my understanding and thinking of the industry, as well as my views on consumer thinking.

The outside world often simplifies design as "drawing" or "beautifying", and even believes that designers only need to wait for "inspiration to come". But the real design process is far more complex than that; it is more like a scientific experiment of "problem hypothesis verification iteration", and inspiration is just one of the catalysts in it. Designers are more like 'problem translators', translating knowledge from different fields into solutions.

The process is always more worth seeing than the final result; unfortunately, it seems that only designers care!

When people realize the systematic nature of design, they will respect the professional value of designers more - they are not just "drawing casually", but using scientific methods to solve complex problems.

For me, in the early stages, I will have in-depth communication with clients to explore their ideas and the goals they want to achieve. Build consensus with 'problem translation'!

Customer expectations do not necessarily mean solutions: Customers may demand a high-end feel, but their underlying needs may be to enhance brand premium capabilities or attract young high-net-worth individuals. Designers need to break down requirements through questioning.

For example, "In what scenario do you want this wine to be consumed?" (bar/home/gift) "What do you think the target consumers care most about?" (storytelling/environmental/ceremonial)

Meeting customer expectations and adhering to design concepts are not contradictory, but require designers to shift from passive execution to active guidance. By translating customer requirements into design language.

The ultimate goal of design is to make customers feel that 'this is better than I expected'.

For example, in this award-winning design, Erguotou Liquor is a category of Baijiu, which is one of the specialties of Beijing. Most of Erguotou Liquor's packaging designs directly use the Beijing Temple of Heaven pattern in product packaging design, which has led to a large degree of homogenization.

The homogenization of design makes it difficult for end consumers to distinguish the quality of products and reflect their unique features through packaging.

In my design, I did not use any iconic buildings or patterns from Beijing. Starting from history and consumer cognition. I use consumers' impressions and feelings of Beijing architecture to create designs. For example, you can see that my designs have the characteristics and impressions of classical Beijing architecture, but it is difficult to say which specific building it is. Simultaneously utilizing manufacturing techniques combined with text to showcase the unique taste and culture of the product.

In the end, I successfully designed this packaging for the client that not only embodies traditional brewing techniques, history, and simplicity, but also has the regional characteristics of Beijing. I am honored that this packaging design has won the NY Product Design Awards Gold Award recognition!

In my daily work, I often look at excellent designs, such as on major design websites, design award websites, etc., or when I think a particular design is perfect, I use it as a reference style. Enhance one's aesthetic ability while also being able to see excellent designs within or outside the industry.

When there are no ideas, these excellent designs can bring some inspiration and inspiration.

Of course, if you really don't have creativity and ideas, I suggest you take a break and relax appropriately in order to truly have creativity and ideas. Intentionally leaving 'blank time' (such as meditation, walking, reading non-design books) to allow the subconscious to continue working. Excessive pursuit of efficiency can stifle creativity and allow oneself to 'waste time' on seemingly unrelated things.

The ultimate creativity in design comes from the ability to tolerate and transform "lagging". When we stop confronting obstacles and instead see them as an opportunity for a system upgrade, breakthroughs will naturally occur.

My design logic always revolves around three core principles: functionality, sustainability, and cultural inclusivity.

In terms of functionality, I am very clear that the first priority of packaging is to protect the product. Nowadays, many packaging designs on the market ignore this important principle in order to cater to a certain group of consumers. Taking solving practical problems as the starting point for design.

On the basis of solving the problem of protecting products, packaging design that is compatible with environmental protection and reduces the use of materials is also one of my considerations.

For example, in this award-winning design, I can see the application of my industry experience, combining design with the actual production process, carving the historical and cultural characteristics of the distillery into the bottle body through grinding tools, saving packaging materials while also being more environmentally friendly. At the same time, the overall design visually reduces elements, creating a refined, concise, and culturally rich visual effect.

This design not only enhances the experience but also becomes a carrier for brand culture dissemination. User demand x environmental impact x cultural adaptation x technical feasibility = optimal solution.

For designers who pursue success, my suggestion is to participate more in fair and just awards like the NY Product Design Awards, realize the gap between themselves and other designers in the world, and communicate with outstanding designers internationally.

In addition, cultivate keen insight, pay attention to market trends, consumer demands, and industry dynamics, and make the design fit reality. Be brave in innovation, not bound by tradition, boldly try new forms and concepts, and create unique works.

Focusing on completing each project and mastering the entire process from concept to implementation is more important than a stunning idea. Maintain a beginner's mindset, constantly improve your professional depth and cognitive breadth, and time will give you the answer.

In previous interviews, I chose Ditlams, whose design philosophy of "less is more" - emphasizing "good design is as few as possible" - coincides with my pursuit of "transferring cultural depth by subtraction" in Baijiu packaging design.

But this time I will choose Kenya Hara. He adheres to the design philosophy of "nothing is also there", pursuing the ultimate beauty of simplicity and white space. The packaging design of MUJI products conveys the brand's core with a simple design, removes redundant elements, and highlights the charm of the product itself.

I really like this feeling, using minimalist design to evoke emotional resonance. In packaging design, simplicity is not simple, but a carefully considered and ingenious choice.

Kenya Hara excels at exploring the deep value of products, presenting them with unique perspectives and delicate techniques. In cooperation, I can learn from its philosophy, enhance the design realm, and make the packaging both aesthetically pleasing and meaningful, endowing the product with unique charm and long-lasting vitality.

Q: Under the dual pressure of environmental protection and cost, how can packaging designers achieve both sustainability and commercial success through design? This is a concern for many people, and I see it this way:

A: You can try to break through with the mindset of "functional substitution". Previously, I designed a low-budget alcohol packaging that abandoned expensive biodegradable materials and instead designed reusable bottle caps - which users can store in cans or containers after drinking, extending the lifespan of the packaging. The key is to transform environmental needs into long-term value for users, rather than simply sacrificing costs for environmental labels.