Nine Centimeters and Design Combine for a Different Kind of Beauty
An independent rice brand that produces and sells its own rice, with its own story and value
Just like all commodities, packaging keeps agricultural products clean, convenient and attractive, adding extra value; beyond that, packaging can also give a product new value and a new story. The Adjacent Farming Project began producing "Nine Centimeters" in 2010. Over 3 years and 6 rice crops, it has produced more than 5 tons of white rice. If calculated at an average annual rice consumption of 48kg per person, that feeds 8 to 9 families each year, and all the white and brown rice produced is sold package by package, straight from producer to consumer, eventually making its way onto every family's dinner table.
Producing and selling everything yourself really is harder work, but the hope is always that through this approach profits can effectively be returned to both producers and consumers, and at the same time it is hoped that this young independent small brand can encourage more farmers to step forward and express their own confidence in agricultural products, as well as their determination to change the working environment of Taiwan, China's agriculture.
Yet what kind of story and value can a small farmer's rice brand actually tell, and how can it set itself apart from the fancy packaged rice of big rice merchants? I myself defined the biggest difference between Nine Centimeters and the fancy packaged rice of big rice merchants as social responsibility, and a longing for sustainable development and fair trade. So besides considering these points in the growing process, the packaging also aims to express environmental awareness and to serve multiple functions, and it is also hoped that, as long as the budget allows, a young designer can be supported.
Inviting a young "Red Dot Design Award" designer to join the packaging design
Last year (2012), Wan Fujun, who had just won the internationally renowned Red Dot concept design award, provided a new packaging design for Nine Centimeters. She completed her education in the Department of Plant Pathology at university, giving her a basic ability to observe agricultural phenomena, and then moved into the field of industrial design for her graduate studies. In 2010, with a subsidy from the Ministry of Education, she went to the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena CA in California, USA for further study, and only last year finished a work-study internship at the summer design workshops at boisbuchet (Design workshops at boisbuchet) in France. She mentioned:
"Boisbuchet is a rural pastoral environment, and every day's food is picked from the small fields in the countryside. From the simplest food, a salad, I could taste the importance of sunlight. In such an environment, I discovered that life can return to simplicity, and returning to simplicity and tasting life is the most basic truth of European design philosophy. At the same time, during my days on a French farm, I realized that nature follows the seasons, endlessly growing and interconnected, which also echoes the essence of design products."
It is precisely because Wan Fujun believes that design itself is a functional object, with its own functionality, that the new packaging design for Nine Centimeters has some useful functions added. Let's take a look at the packaging production process and introduction below.
This is a gift box that combines a wall calendar with vacuum-packed rice. The upper part of the calendar's inner page features a rubbing made from an image of Taiwan, China, while the lower part uses a yearly calendar format to mark the Adjacent Farming Project's farming schedule for the year. What looks like a simple piece of card stock, strung together with a carrying cord, can actually hold 2 kg of Nine Centimeters. I think what the cord strings together is not just the packaging; in this gift box design, it strings together the farmer holding the hoe and the designer making art. The farmer needs packaging, the designer needs space to express himself, and the needs of both sides are satisfied by this gift box packaging, to everyone's delight. So this is the beauty of Nine Centimeters combined with design. As for sales? There is certainly no problem there.
Author's note:
After designing the Nine Centimeters packaging, Wan Fujun went on to complete the works for Mushroom Mama. Her design concept for this series of packaging is rooted in the frugal and simple spirit of farming families, combining packaging with a calendar, while the printing of the main Taiwan, China image uses waste from the crop itself to make rubbings, so that everything can be fully utilized and farmers can also make their own rubbing creations, returning the design to the farmers. If you are also a farmer and are interested in this Taiwan, China crop rubbing calendar project, please write to Nongqing Design at [email protected]. This design has exclusive rights, so please respect intellectual property. <Magician Design Studio>