New Year Gift: A Blend of Tradition and Modernity

Combining Traditional Chinese Crafts with Modern Design

The New Year gift box, aptly named "New Year Gift," is a collaboration between Baidu Input Method and the design team. It aims to bring users closer to the rich cultural heritage of China and provide a memorable and meaningful gift-giving experience.

The design draws inspiration from various intangible crafts, such as bamboo weaving, tiger caps, woodblock engraving, and hand-painted New Year pictures. These elements have been seamlessly integrated into the gift box, resulting in a harmonious blend of tradition and modernity.

The outer packaging of the gift box is a bamboo-weaved basket, showcasing the traditional thin-thread bamboo weaving craft. This not only adds a touch of elegance but also demonstrates the usefulness and resource-saving nature of traditional crafts.

Inside the box, users will find a calendar and traditional New Year painting plates. The calendar cover features the intricate Fengxiang New Year woodprints, a traditional craft that has been on the wane. The process of creating these woodprints involves ten meticulous steps, from drafting to coloring, resulting in a beautiful and authentic representation of Chinese culture.

The New Year gift box also includes a bellyband that can be transformed into a tiger cap, adding an element of fun and reducing waste. This playful feature pays homage to the hufu, a tiger-shaped tally that was popular during the Warring States Period and the Qin and Han Dynasties. In the late Qing Dynasty, tiger caps became prevalent as a means of protecting children against demons.

The design team has paid careful attention to the technical specifications of the New Year gift box. The outer package is made of foldable paper tape, coated with a soft touch film, and printed using a four-color printing process. The bamboo basket, which serves as the outer packaging, is crafted using 0.5mm thin bamboo strips woven in a back-shaped pattern. The calendar, New Year painting plates, and other components are made using various materials and techniques, such as engraving, rubbing, laser scanning, and single-color printing.

The New Year Gift project was launched in Beijing in November 2021, and the design was completed and distributed to users within China in January 2022. The designers, Tian Wu, Yuting Cai, Meng Xu, and Lili Zhai, collaborated with Xiaocong Yu, Xuan Wang, Hongyan He, and Yan Wang to bring this unique gift to life.

The New Year Gift design has received recognition for its innovation and practicality. It was awarded the Iron A' Design Award in the Packaging Design category in 2022. This prestigious award is given to well-designed creations that meet professional and industrial requirements while contributing to a better world.

With its blend of traditional Chinese crafts and modern design, the New Year Gift is not just a gift box but a celebration of Chinese culture and heritage. It offers a unique and memorable way to connect with the rich traditions of the Chinese New Year.