Introducing homei: A Sustainable Packaging System for Dried Herbs

A Unique Approach to Making Chinese Herbs Accessible to Global Markets

Traditional packaging for Chinese dried herbs often consists of large red plastic bags, making them difficult to organize and store. Additionally, the herbs' various organic shapes can make them challenging to work with. With homei, these obstacles are overcome through a unique and innovative design.

Targeted specifically at the western market, homei offers a convenient and efficient solution for using and storing dried herbs. The herbs are minced, allowing for easy usage and requiring less storage space. Unlike traditional soup recipes that require hours of cooking, homei enables people with busy schedules to extract the nutrition from the herbs more efficiently. The package also includes strainers for convenient filtering before consuming the soup.

The design of homei is not only functional but also sustainable. The packaging is reusable and glue-free, and all the products are refillable. Slim envelopes are provided for the refill process, eliminating the need to carry tubes to the store for refills.

The realization of homei involved the use of Illustrator, comp making, and laser cutting techniques. The final dimensions of the packaging are 142.5mm x 142.5mm x 260mm.

SHANSHAN CHEN conducted extensive research for this project, including primary research and interviews with Chinese food enthusiasts living in western countries. The main obstacles identified were the long boiling time, the complexity of the herbs' nutritional facts, and the difficulty in storing them. The goal of homei was to find a design solution to address these challenges.

One of the main challenges faced during the project was the complicated nature of dried herbs, which come in different shapes, sizes, and functions. To overcome this, all the ingredients were minced into small dices and organized in refillable and reusable glass tubes, ensuring more efficient usage and storage.

homei's design features a logo mark that represents both the yin-yang balance and the action of stirring soups. The color choice of the mark reflects the colors of the dried herbs in the product line, while also conveying warmth and a Chinese element. The clean typography and iconography maintain a minimal visual system without compromising authenticity.

This innovative design has been recognized with the prestigious Bronze A' Design Award in 2019. The award acknowledges homei's outstanding creativity and ingenuity in addressing the challenges of packaging and using dried herbs. It exemplifies the incorporation of best practices in art, science, design, and technology, contributing to improvements in quality of life and making the world a better place.