Bronze Sustainable Products, Projects and Green Design · 2025
Potamya Packaging Design
by Ebru Sile Goksel and Ipek Eris Ugurlu
- A' Design Award 2025 Bronze Winner in Sustainable Products, Projects and Green Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: Studio Born
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 32,973
- Verification code 5C6D76B54C · Verify this award
About Potamya Packaging Design
Rooted in ancient Mesopotamian culture, the birthplace of agriculture, Potamya deeply connects to history while embracing modern sustainability. As a natural, organic brand, it offers 100% gluten-free, vegan legume pastas with sustainable, user-friendly innovation. A new peel-off measuring system reduces waste by transforming the top lid into a built-in, reusable measuring cup. Potamya seamlessly merges heritage with a contemporary approach, ensuring practical, reusable, and waste-reducing packaging.
Ebru Sile Goksel's POTAMYA Packaging Design emerges from contemporary movements prioritizing transparency, sustainability, and authentic material expression within the global food packaging sector, addressing growing consumer desire for traceable, wholesome, nutritious products while honoring agricultural traditions and regional culinary heritage through thoughtful visual communication strategies. The compositional achievement of this paired package presentation demonstrates sophisticated understanding of visual hierarchy, information architecture, and brand identity construction, employing bilateral near-symmetry to establish product family cohesion while introducing chromatic and ornamental variation that maintains individual product differentiation within the unified system, the warm ochre banding and cooler chartreuse accent creating thermal dialogue that guides eye movement and establishes memorable chromatic signatures for distinct product variants within the range. The technical execution reveals accomplished control across multiple design dimensions including typographic refinement where the POTAMYA wordmark achieves distinctive character through geometric letterform construction and careful spatial distribution, the generous product window apertures demonstrating confidence in ingredient visibility and material honesty as primary selling proposition rather than relying upon photographic idealization or illustrated product representation, and the lower decorative program exhibiting skillful linear illustration that balances folk art authenticity with contemporary graphic sophistication, these hand-drawn quality wheat stalks, grain forms, and radiating solar motifs rendered in complementary ink colors suggesting both traditional woodcut printmaking heritage and current craft revival aesthetics. The chromatic sophistication throughout the design demonstrates nuanced understanding of color psychology and cultural associations, the earth palette of ochres, siennas, and cream communicating natural origins, agricultural provenance, wholesomeness, and nutritional integrity, while the strategic deployment of acidic chartreuse introduces visual vitality and contemporary sensibility preventing the composition from reading as overly nostalgic or regressive, this warm-cool chromatic contrast creating dynamic tension that enlivens the overall presentation and differentiates product variants while maintaining family resemblance. The material choices appear deliberately aligned with sustainability values, the kraft paperboard substrate with matte finish suggesting minimal processing, recyclability, and reduced environmental impact compared to glossy polymer-coated alternatives, this honest material expression reinforcing brand positioning around natural ingredients and ecological consciousness while the transparency windows allow direct product visibility building consumer trust through literal transparency as metaphor for ingredient and sourcing transparency. Thematically, the design explores intersections of tradition and innovation, agricultural heritage and contemporary nutritional science, regional specificity and global design language, rustic authenticity and refined execution, celebrating plant-based protein sources and alternative grain formulations as both ancestral wisdom and forward-looking dietary solution, the wheat and grain iconography connecting contemporary urban consumers to agricultural cycles and harvest abundance while the clean geometric package architecture and sophisticated typographic treatment position the product within premium natural foods category accessible to health-conscious demographics. The decorative program in particular invites contemplation of how visual culture can honor folk traditions and vernacular art forms while translating them into contemporary idioms that resonate across cultural contexts, the linear illustrative style suggesting handcraft and human touch within industrial production systems, perhaps gesturing toward artisanal values, small-batch care, and maker authenticity even within larger commercial contexts, while the radiating solar motifs and abundant grain imagery evoke universal symbols of sustenance, growth, energy, and natural generosity that transcend specific regional traditions to communicate broadly legible messages about nourishment and vitality. One might observe how the pairing of packages in this presentation invites consideration of variety, choice, and the pleasures of culinary exploration within constrained parameters, the chromatic and ornamental differences signaling distinct flavor profiles or nutritional compositions while the structural and typographic consistency assures quality equivalence and brand reliability, perhaps prompting viewers to reflect upon how contemporary food systems might balance diversity and standardization, local specificity and scalable distribution, traditional ingredients and innovative formulations, creating products that honor both heritage and health, pleasure and responsibility, individual preference and collective sustainability imperatives.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Rooted in ancient Mesopotamian culture—the birthplace of agriculture—Potamya deeply connects to history while embracing modern sustainability.As a natural, organic brand, it offers 100% gluten-free, vegan legume pastas with sustainable, user-friendly innovation.A new peel-off measuring system reduces waste by transforming the top lid into a built-in, reusable measuring cup.Potamya seamlessly merges heritage with a contemporary approach, ensuring practical, reusable, and waste-reducing packaging.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The Potamya legume pasta packaging series is produced in various sizes and weights depending on the pasta type. The colors are chosen to match the hue of the legumes, aligning with the pasta visible through the window area. The measuring cup is designed based on a single portion (80g).
- Tags
- Sustainability, packaging, illustration, design, food, potamya, pasta, food, sustainable design, graphic design
- Production Technology
- The packaging is crafted using eco-friendly, recyclable materials, ensuring minimal environmental impact. The peel-off measuring system was developed after extensive prototyping, collaborating with multiple manufacturers to perfect its seamless usability. The structure is designed for efficiency in production while maintaining durability, ensuring that the innovative measuring feature remains functional throughout the product's lifespan.
- Design Challenge
- The challenge was shifting consumer habits from traditional pasta to nutrient-rich legume pasta while encouraging sustainable practices. The design not only emphasizes the health benefits of legume-based alternatives but also incorporates a built-in portion control system for effortless, precise serving. By seamlessly integrating this feature into the packaging, the project promotes sustainability and enhances convenience in everyday cooking. Overcoming manufacturing limitations and aligning sustainability with innovation pushed the boundaries of conventional packaging design.
- Project Duration
- The creation of the brand identity, including the logo, typography, color palette, graphic style, and illustrations, and their integration into the packaging design, took 1.5 months. An additional 1.5 months was dedicated to preparing the packaging for printing and producing samples, bringing the total project timeline to 3 months.
- Operation Flow
- We designed the packaging to challenge traditional pasta-buying habits by making the benefits of legume pasta instantly clear. A transparent window showcases the organic pasta, while bold labeling highlights its rich nutrition, building awareness and trust. The back of the box features a warm illustration of the cooking process and key product details, reinforcing its uniqueness. As an emerging category, legume pasta needed an equally innovative approach, leading to a sustainable, thoughtfully designed package aligned with the brand’s philosophy. To change the perception that legume pasta may lack flavor, we included a collection of delicious, inspiring recipes. Potamya quickly gained attention, appealing to health-conscious and eco-friendly consumers.
- Research
- To restore the disrupted natural balance, one of the most critical factors in ensuring sustainability is clean farming—yet it is practiced on only 1% of the world's agricultural lands. Organic farming leads to an increase in both the quantity and quality of produce. Globally, one out of every three plates of food goes to waste, three children die of hunger every minute, and 60% of food waste could be recovered. To consume nature’s gifts without waste, we have developed a portioned cap system. Contribute to sustainable living by consuming responsibly.
- Inspiration
- Potamya’s design is deeply rooted in ancient Mesopotamian culture, the birthplace of agriculture. The visual language reflects the artifacts, tools, and symbols from this era, reimagined through a modern, minimalistic approach. The logo, set in a deep navy, draws inspiration from geometric forms found in ancient Mesopotamian tools and inscriptions, creating a timeless yet contemporary feel. The illustration concept is a direct nod to the origins of agriculture, featuring stylized representation.
- Image Credits
- Creative Directors & Designers: Ebru Sile Goksel, Ipek Eris Ugurlu
Graphic Designer & Illustator: Cansu Taskin