Silver Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design · 2025
Tiantai Huangcha Brand Identity
by Zhejiang Gongshang University
- A' Design Award 2025 Silver Winner in Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: 天台县人民政府
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 84,017
- Verification code D1E8E9685E · Verify this award
About Tiantai Huangcha Brand Identity
Tiantai Huangcha is a brand identity and packaging design created for a regional yellow tea. The logo combines dot and leaf shapes in a simple graphic language. One circle symbolizes the essence of tea. Two circles express the interaction between people and nature. Three circles represent friends seated around a table to share tea. A tea lotus graphic below echoes the three dots and completes the mark. The packaging uses matte ceramic with metal handles, and the tea canister form follows the shape of the logo.
This distinguished packaging ensemble, which might be contemplated under the title Vessels of Contemplation or The Way of Golden Stillness, positions itself within the rich tradition of tea culture visual identity while embracing thoroughly contemporary material sensibilities and minimalist design philosophy that has emerged as a defining characteristic of premium artisanal beverage presentation in recent decades. The designer demonstrates exceptional command of material hierarchy and chromatic restraint, orchestrating a palette of refined metallics and muted neutrals that speak simultaneously to luxury positioning and meditative simplicity, qualities central to the appreciation of fine tea. The cylindrical canisters, rendered in alternating warm gold and cool silver finishes, establish a visual rhythm that suggests both variety within unity and the complementary duality present in many contemplative traditions. The prominent saffron-hued emblem depicting a seated meditative figure functions as the spiritual anchor of the identity system, its warm chromatic intensity creating necessary punctuation within the otherwise restrained tonal environment while communicating associations of mindfulness, presence, and the ceremonial aspects of tea preparation and consumption. The accompanying gift boxes employ surface textures evocative of traditional paper-making techniques, their pale stone-like appearance suggesting natural materials and artisanal processes even as the precision of their construction speaks to contemporary manufacturing excellence. The golden hardware details, including the elegant bar clasp and decorative medallion closure, serve both functional and symbolic purposes, their warm metallic presence creating visual bridges between packaging components while suggesting the preciousness of the contents within. The overall composition invites contemplation of how material culture can embody philosophical principles, how objects designed for commercial purposes can nonetheless carry genuine spiritual resonance, and how contemporary design vocabulary can honor traditional cultural practices while speaking to present-day sensibilities and expectations of refined presentation.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The combination of dots shapes and leaves condenses the Buddhist meditation into a logo graphic with multiple meanings. The circle symbolises the essence of tea; the arrangement of two circles shows the interaction between man and nature; and the arrangement of three circles signifies the sharing and gathering of friends who are seated around a table to drink three cups of tea together.
The tea lotus graphic below the logo echoes the three dots above, ultimately constituting the complete logo. - Dimensions & Packaging
- Round, crescent shaped tea canister: diameter 120mm*height 150mm (capacity 150-200g);
Tea tray: leaf-shaped design, length 200mm*width 100mm.
In packaging design, round tea canisters, crescent-shaped tea canisters, diagonally placed tea cups and leaf-shaped tea trays are the basic apparatus for tea tasting. At the same time, through the clever combination of the tea canister and the tea tray, it forms an isomorphic design that echoes with the logo graphic, which effectively strengthens the brand impression. - Tags
- Brand Narrative, Brand Design, Symbolic Design, Sustainable Packaging, Regional IPs
- Production Technology
- Material Selection: The packaging is made of matte ceramic and metal handles, echoing the natural texture; balancing a sense of high-end with sustainability;
3D modelling: The tea canister form was modelled based on the logo graphic to ensure that the shape was consistent with the brand symbol. This creation, through the simple design, helps the brand to show the rich connotation, and leave a deeper memory and sense of identity in the user's mind. - Design Challenge
- Cultural abstraction: how to transform Buddhist Zen into a universal symbol? This can be done by lowering the narrative cognitive threshold through a simple graphic with different numbers of circles, one circle, two circles and three circles;
Breaking barriers: how to balance high-end positioning and mass communication? Minimalist design of gifts and everyday scenes to strengthen the ‘scarcity + cultural value’ label;
Production: process cost control for complex shaped tea canisters, using modular moulds to reduce customisation costs. - Project Duration
- The project started its design phase in October 2022, was completed in April 2023 and officially released in May 2024.
- Operation Flow
- Unpacking Ceremony: The layered structure of the gift box needs to be opened in a specific order, simulating the Zen tea ceremony;
The combination of the tea canister and the tea tray enhances the sense of opening ceremony, which fits the needs of gift-giving scenarios, and the minimalist graphics reduce the cost of recognition, helping the brand to quickly enter new markets and strengthen the brand's memory. This minimalist symbol system can be expanded to tea utensils and cultural tourism products (such as meditation experience periphery) to continue the brand life cycle. - Research
- This project creates a brand image and packaging system for "Tiantai Yellow Tea". Centered on "Buddhist culture," the design blends Zen aesthetics with tea-making traditions. The main graphic combines dots and leaf shapes. The tea lotus below forms a "poet monk with clasped hands," reflecting the "tea and Zen" philosophy. The design balances cultural richness with efficiency, emphasizing the tea's rarity and premium status. The brand gained government recognition and media coverage.
- Inspiration
- We were commissioned by the government of Tiantai County, Zhejiang Province to design the brand identity and packaging for the local speciality tea 'Tiantai Huangcha.' As the birthplace of yellow tea, Tiantai Temple was asked to incorporate its concept of 'Tea Zen and One Taste' into the design; to transform the traditional process of sun-drying and drinking tea into visual symbols; and to integrate a variety of cultural imagery through geometric shapes that are easy to recognise and remember .
- Image Credits
- Designer：Kan Zhao