Press Release
Yasushi Uemura Is Honored with the Golden A' Design Award for Zaku Naguwashi Series Japanese Sake in Packaging Design
Yasushi Uemura honored for packaging design by the international grand jury of the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 19, 2025 /DesignNewswire/ Zaku Naguwashi Series Japanese Sake by Yasushi Uemura, designed for Shimizu Seizaburo Shoten Ltd., has been granted the Golden A' Design Award in the Packaging Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The result belongs to the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
The Golden A' Design Award Explained
The Gold A' Design Award is granted to designs that demonstrate a high level of innovation and a significant impact on their intended audience. Recognized as a major achievement by the A' Design Awards, these designs are characterized by their visionary approach and the exceptional skill of their creators. Winners of the Gold A' Design Award are noted for their ability to push the envelope in art, science, design, and technology, delivering solutions that not only meet but exceed expectations. These designs serve as benchmarks for excellence, encouraging further innovation and inspiring future generations of designers.
About Zaku Naguwashi Series Japanese Sake
This is a premium sake developed specifically for luxury restaurants, aiming to be included on wine lists as one of the options for food pairing. The design challenge was to convey a distinctive sense of Japanese identity. The design draws inspiration from traditional Japanese motifs such as shide, the sacred paper streamers used in shrines to mark the boundaries of the divine, and origata, the ceremonial art of folding paper. These elements successfully convey not only their physical forms but also the deeper spirituality and essence of the Japanese people.
About Yasushi Uemura
Founder of Uemura Design.Established his independent studio in 1997. Known for working closely with clients by handling all aspects of the creative process, including design, direction, photography, and illustration. Primarily focuses on logo and package design.
Award Record
Yasushi Uemura is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.
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. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to packaging designers, graphic designers, branding agencies and product manufacturers from all countries. Typical entries include bottles, boxes, cans, pouches, tubes and cartons. The awarded packaging designs are published at https://desingers.org/design-category/packaging
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is 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. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously 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. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which 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, uploading a work and receiving a 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. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://desingers.org/164565
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/164565
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!164565
- Laureate Profile: https://desingers.org/d/359094
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://seizaburo.jp/en/naguwashi-special-site/
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
- Zaku Naguwashi Series Japanese Sake
- Function
- Japanese Sake
- Category
- Packaging Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Packaging & Retail, Branding & Advertising and Manufacturing
- Colors
- Dark Slate Gray, Black, Dark Gray, Gray and Dim Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Shimizu Seizaburo Shoten Ltd.
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Yasushi Uemura
- Country
- Japan
- Recognition
- Golden A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2024 - 2025
- Design ID
- #164565
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- A premium Japanese sake designed for luxury restaurants primarily in Europe and America. It was created with the goal of being featured on wine lists as one of the basic options for food pairing, alongside wines.
- Inspiration
- The design emphasizes Japanese spirituality to highlight the unique characteristics of sake. It draws inspiration from traditional motifs, such as "shide," the paper streamers used in Japanese shrines to mark sacred boundaries, and the art of "origata," the traditional method of folding paper in ceremonial practices.
- Research
- In recent years, sake has become popular in the Western market. Usually, sake bottles are written in Japanese and are often difficult to understand. So, I expressed it using traditional Japanese imagery in a way that a sommelier at a Western restaurant could intuitively understand.
- Challenge
- Sake in wine bottles can easily be mistaken for wine, making it challenging to create a design that immediately conveys 'Japan.' To express sake through traditional Japanese imagery, we drew inspiration from elements such as 'shide' (white paper streamers used in Shinto rituals) and 'origata' (envelopes folded to convey respect), incorporating these symbols into the design to represent Japanese spirituality.
- Realization and Technology
- In this label design, small cut-out holes were made to express the folded shapes of paper. Since the holes are extremely small, they are manually cut. As sake labels need to be durable when placed in coolers, synthetic paper was used to give the appearance of traditional paper while providing the necessary durability.
- Operation and Interaction
- It is mainly served in restaurants in Europe and the United States that serve sake. By adding sake to the menu, which has previously offered a wide variety of wines, the restaurant can provide a broader selection. This gives guests the opportunity to explore new flavors and experience choices they haven't had before, while also sparking an interest in Japanese culture.
- Project Duration and Location
- This project started in Mie Prefecture, Japan, in 2020, and by April 2023, three varieties of the series were completed. Sales began in Tokyo and other parts of Japan, and the product is also available in Europe and the United States. The sales continue.
- Specifications
- Grass Bottle 750ml: Height 335mm, Diameter 80mm
- Keywords
- Sake, Japanese sake, Zaku, Drink Package, Japan, UemuraDesign, Traditional
