Tradition is an important resource from which a brand can begin telling its own story. Ingredients and production methods used over generations, patterns preserved in a region, and customs surrounding the sharing of food carry a background that other brands cannot easily claim. Connecting these resources to products and design helps explain where a brand comes from. Yet a long history alone does not persuade consumers to choose a product. People buy things that meet the needs of their lives today. Even when they appreciate the value of tradition, they may hesitate to purchase something that is difficult to use or does not suit their taste. Brands must connect the meaning of the past with the needs of the present.

Design determines what to preserve and what to change in this process. It retains distinctive ingredients and cultural backgrounds while shaping names, graphics, packaging, and methods of use in ways that contemporary consumers can understand. It creates the conditions for products rooted in tradition to be used and purchased again. Four Asia Design Prize 2025 winners demonstrate this approach in different ways: MIIN SILOK BRAND IDENTITY, Baekje Soju Branding, SaengGwaBang Yakgwa Rebranding, and KIMCHI CRUNCH BITES CRUNCH THE WORLD. Drawing on traditional ingredients, history, gift culture, and eating habits, each project develops an experience suited to its brand.

A Brand’s Distinctiveness Begins with Its Origins

When working with tradition, designers must carefully choose what to draw upon. Before selecting patterns and colors, they should be able to explain how those elements relate to the product. Traditional elements acquire specific meaning when they connect to a brand’s ingredients, place of production, or manufacturing methods. For example, applying the shapes and colors of rice grains to a product made with rice allows consumers to understand the relationship between its ingredients and its design. When a brand named after a place uses patterns drawn from that culture, its name and appearance become part of one story. The clearer the origins of its visual elements, the clearer the language used to explain the brand. This connection also matters when a product range expands. Establishing principles for names, colors, and graphics around a shared source helps new products remain recognizable as part of the same brand. Tradition develops into a framework that organizes the entire brand.

Translating an Ingredient’s Story into Brand Language

< MIIN SILOK BRAND IDENTITY, ASIA DESIGN PRIZE 2025 WINNER >

MIIN SILOK is a beauty brand whose key ingredient is rice lees, a by-product of making makgeolli, a traditional Korean rice wine. Its name combines “miin,” meaning beauty, with “silok,” meaning historical records, introducing the idea of documenting beauty. The slogan “Beauty Archive” extends this concept. The ingredient’s background and the brand name follow a consistent direction. The design maintains this relationship. A vertical Hangul logotype inspired by traditional writing conveys the idea of records and documentation. Soft ivory, dark brown, and rice grain graphics evoke the ingredient, while packaging incorporating the texture of hanji paper, fabric, and knots gives its Korean origins a tactile presence.

The strength of this project lies in the way its traditional elements tell the same story. Rice lees, the name SILOK, the arrangement of the lettering, and the texture of the paper are connected. Consumers can recognize the brand’s intended atmosphere and origins before reading a lengthy explanation. In the beauty market, ingredients communicate function while also providing a basis for differentiation. MIIN SILOK develops the cultural background of its ingredient into a name and a visual system. Tradition provides a connection between what the product contains and how the brand expresses itself.

Turning Local History into a Repeatable Visual System

< Baekje Soju Branding, ASIA DESIGN PRIZE 2025 WINNER >

Baekje Soju was developed by Naebyeonsan Distillery in Buan, Jeonbuk Province, South Korea. Building on the background of a distillery now in its second generation, the brand adopts the name Baekje and reinterprets imagery, murals, and motifs from the historic kingdom through contemporary graphics and patterns. The historical associations introduced by the name continue into the product’s appearance. Consumers encounter alcoholic beverages through bottles, labels, and boxes before they taste them. Among the many products on display, the design must communicate something about the producer and the character of the drink. When the name and packaging tell different stories, the brand becomes harder to understand.

Baekje Soju’s patterns give repeated visual expression to the background contained in its name. Translating historical motifs into contemporary graphics makes them applicable to different surfaces, including labels and boxes. Together, they form a system that helps consumers recognize multiple products as belonging to the same brand. This approach allows traditional imagery to be applied consistently across a product range. As new products are added, the design can accommodate differences while retaining a shared graphic language. The region and its history explain the brand’s starting point, while the design system allows that story to continue.

Bringing Traditional Refinement to Gift Giving

 

 

< SaengGwaBang Yakgwa Rebranding, ASIA DESIGN PRIZE 2025 WINNER >

 

 

The SaengGwaBang Yakgwa rebranding builds on a brand name inspired by the hall where special delicacies were prepared for the Joseon royal family. The logo evokes the artist’s seals found in traditional East Asian painting and extends into a pattern system. Packaging for different products draws on traditional Korean color systems. The role of the packaging is particularly significant. Each box is constructed as a sturdy gift box that requires no additional wrapping. The design preserves the texture of colored paper and allows the box to be used for storage after its contents have been removed.

 

When buying a gift, consumers consider both the contents and how they will be presented. They think about whether the appearance is appropriate for the recipient, whether additional wrapping is necessary, and what impression the gift will make. Packaging that addresses these questions reduces the need to make further presentation decisions after choosing the product. SaengGwaBang connects traditional refinement with the contemporary act of giving and receiving gifts. The seal motif and colors communicate the cultural background, while the structure and materials of the box support practical use. The brand’s story continues into the experience after purchase.

 

 

 

Proposing New Uses at the Table

 

< KIMCHI CRUNCH BITES CRUNCH THE WORLD, ASIA DESIGN PRIZE 2025 WINNER >

 

 

JONGGA’s Kimchi Crunch Bites highlights the texture of finely chopped napa cabbage and radish and offers a way to enjoy kimchi alongside foods such as pizza, tacos, ramen, and sandwiches. Made with kimchi produced in Korea, it introduces convenient ways to incorporate the food into different culinary cultures. The packaging uses a vibrant coral red and a transparent window through which the contents can be seen. Consumers can examine the form of the food inside, while the bright color creates a lively impression. 

 

The central question addressed by this project is how someone encountering kimchi for the first time can incorporate it into a meal. Buying unfamiliar food raises questions about how to use it as well as how it will taste. Consumers may hesitate if they do not know what to eat it with. Suggesting familiar foods such as pizza and tacos provides a specific answer. Consumers can add kimchi to meals they already enjoy without having to learn an entirely new way of eating. The project connects packaging design with the form of the product and the ways it can be used.

 

 

 

Cultural Meaning Is Communicated Through Use

 

Cultural anthropologist Grant McCracken explained how cultural meaning moves through consumer goods to individuals. Advertising, the fashion system, and consumption rituals, including gift giving and everyday practices, participate in this movement of meaning (McCracken, 1986). From this perspective, an important task for brands drawing on tradition is to connect cultural meaning with actual behavior. Consumers experience a brand’s meaning as they choose a product, open its packaging, give it to someone, and use it in their own lives. MIIN SILOK’s ingredients and packaging connect a Korean cultural background with daily skincare. SaengGwaBang’s boxes bring refinement to the act of giving yakgwa. Kimchi Crunch Bites broadens the uses of kimchi by encouraging people to eat it with other foods. Tradition can be communicated through the explanations accompanying a product, but it can also be understood through use.

 

 

 

Deciding What to Preserve and What to Change

 

Developing tradition into a contemporary brand begins with identifying the value that must be preserved. Designers must determine whether that value lies in ingredients and production methods, local memory, or a particular custom of use. Clear criteria help maintain the brand’s direction as its design changes. The next step is to identify the difficulties contemporary consumers face. Is the name hard to understand? Does the packaging suit the purpose of purchase? Is the method of use unfamiliar? Depending on the problem, designers may adjust lettering and colors, change the packaging structure, or reconsider how the product is used. MIIN SILOK organizes the background of its ingredient through naming and visual language. Baekje Soju turns historical imagery into patterns that can be applied repeatedly. SaengGwaBang addresses the preparation of a gift through its packaging, while Kimchi Crunch Bites proposes ways to enjoy kimchi with familiar foods. Each project chooses a connection suited to its product.

 

 

 

Creating Reasons to Choose Tradition Again

 

These projects share a direction: they connect tradition with reasons to buy today. They help consumers understand ingredients, distinguish brands, prepare gifts, and incorporate unfamiliar food into their meals. Cultural background becomes part of a product’s value through these specific experiences. Three questions guide this process. What origins can this brand uniquely claim? What value do consumers need today? What product and user experience can connect the two? Decisions about patterns and colors should follow the answers to these questions. A long tradition provides an important background for a brand. To continue being used and chosen, however, it must have a clear role in contemporary life. Design identifies and gives form to that role. When ingredients, stories, and forms inherited from the past become products that fit today’s hands, belong on today’s tables, and can be given to someone else, tradition becomes a brand for today.