The olive tree is a blessed tree, which grows in the stony and arid Mediterranean area. Produce fruit under adverse conditions of drought, strong winds and high temperatures, while the longevity and productivity, wrote the history of the Mediterranean peoples. The olive tree lit up, fed, healed, posed up and identified with high ideals and inspired the vigorous culture for many years in the eastern Mediterranean.

Symbol of knowledge, wisdom, abundance, peace, health, strength and beauty worshiped for thousands of years. A living part of a severe cultural heritage, legends, traditions and religious rituals closely associated with flowering, harvest and production of oil. Such a special heritage should have at least the most special packaging design. And how to convey such tradition in a small bottle and label? Here are some examples, made by Greek designers…

Designed by Speiron Company

λ /lambda/ ultra premium olive oil

The first luxury olive oil in the world.

It is the premium choice of A-listers and well-heeled socialites from Beverly Hills to Singapore. Chef Juan Mari Arzak – the 8th best in the world for 2008 according to Restaurant magazine – found it “marvellous” and Tom Aikens – the 8th best chef for 2005 – has been using it for its “unrivalled fruity taste”. The LA Times called it “brilliant”, and Wallpaper* magazine nominated it “peak performer”. /lambda/ is the first luxury olive oil in the world, produced by Speiron, the Greek pioneering Luxury Food & Beverage Company.

As Times UK said λ /lambda/ is “one man’s quest for olive oil perfection”. From some of the oldest olive oil trees of Greece, the finest Koroneiki olives are handpicked and pressed with utmost care. This creates an olive oil of ultra-low acidity (0,26º), unfiltered, rich in phenols and full of freshness and fruitiness. Then this precious liquid is being bottled and labelled entirely by hand, bottle by bottle, in a slow procedure in order to ensure minimum oxidation and maximum attention to detail.

The glass bottle is sticker free to display the colour of the oil and it is presented in a gift box with a unique PVC information leaflet. The customer can have his/hers signature embossed on bottle along with a special marking on the shoulder of the bottle. 8 great craftsmen join their forces for 30 days to create a stunning white lacquered handcrafted case made of solid niangon wood that bears two 18k white gold plates. The item is accompanied by a certificate of exclusivity as well as a certificate of exceptional quality.

Designed by mousegraphics

Greek Extra Virgin Olive

The briefing (in brief): “we offer a premium quality product and we want a premium quality visual differentiation”. The target audience: an international high-end consumer. The design: this packaging is deliberately and in every possible way moving away from traditional vessels and symbols of olive oil quality or clichés of provenance. This pack design targets the cultivated mind of a food connoisseur who has the spirit of an aesthete: on a metallic can which speaks of function and culinary power, a very realistic-looking drop of oil, comes, almost as an afterthought, in order to keep the product safely grounded into the food section of every selling point. If ever there was a slogan attached to it, then this would read ‘simply oil’.

Etesian gold premium olive oils

The briefing (in brief): “we market our premium product abroad and mainly in the Far East, where it is considered a cosmetic, aside from being consumed as a precious food item”. The target audience: consumers who appreciate pure ingredients and the rituals relating to their consumption. The design: targeting a cultural milieu with very specific communication semiotics and particular habits, we opted for a design which, subliminally, speaks about archetypes, about the signs and symbols of the oldest civilizations. Product of an ancient land and a sacred plant, the ‘etesian gold oil’ is saved in an elegant bottle. It is sealed with the graphic symbol, used in linear b (an ancient greek pre-alphabet syllabic script) to mean ‘olive’. Color tones and hues are kept to the minimum of an earthly palette.

St.olive, premium extra virgin olive oil

The briefing (in brief): “we are targeting a selective and well informed clientele, abroad. We want to stress the special qualities of our product”. The design: since our client wanted to avoid having a ‘provenance-oriented’ identity, we turned to the area of basic human aspirations. Creating the product’s identity, we resorted to a singular combination of metaphysics and humor. We used the term “St. Olive”, not in a religious context, but as an attempt to bring forward the chthonic, primary, life-giving character of the oil fruit. Design helped us make this approach more concrete and acute: it placed a hand – the very representation of the spiritual and the divine- within the area of the ritual, the human and the feasible. In this way humor allowed for process to emerge as the care needed to make things great. We even collaborated with a painter specializing in byzantine iconography, in order to be faithful to the codes of the symbolic language we chose. It was our way to confirm once more what we believe is on the basis of every communication: everything, from the simple to the complicated, is “a leap of faith’ and one there is no reason to take without being well prepared.

100% greek extra virgin and organic olive oils

The briefing (in brief): “we want labels for extra virgin and organic olive oils”. The target audience: consumers with respect for pure products in foreign markets (U.S.A., Canada, Japan). The design: to convey the contemporary significance and ultimate value of an age old product of the greek land, to foreign audiences and cultures, was our primary task and concern. The absolute purity of the product offered a graphic vehicle in the form of the hundrent percent symbol. The olive tree fruit, with its almost circular, mythically fertile flesh, completed the visual; the design carried smoothly a simple message to the viewer/consumer: full, bare, extra, organic, bottled purity. The colors, clear and eartlhy, convey as musch as possible, this ‘direct’ experience of the product.



My Olive Tree

” ‘My Olive Tree’ is the name that most effectively captures our family’s endeavor to produce the best olive oil. We are a family of many, spread around the world, albeit strongly attached to our ancestral land which is situated at the fertile Greek South and the sunbathed region of Messinia. We have been using the oil, extracted from the “Koroneiki” olive cultivar, in our land for many years. It has been proven to be a major nutritional advantage and a part of our family bonding and communication. In 2012 we decided to share this precious gift of nature with people who appreciate similar tastes and values. Brothers Panayiotis and George Karelas activated the whole project by mobilizing the best talents in every related field, i.e. agriculture, scientific research, quality control, taste and texture testing, design and packaging. As of 2013, the result of this careful process, is offered under the name “My Olive Tree”, with the outmost care, in selected gourmet points around the world. Our family names, our very lineage is carried on the branches of the original tree as it appears on every bottle. This is a reminder of who we are, and where we come from as well as a reminder of the responsibilities we share to one another and the environment.

It is a promise that we keep fulfilling and a personal, frank invitation to those who choose to share My Olive Tree.

“My Olive Tree” oil is produced with a sophisticated combination of the traditional and the technologically advanced: Our olive trees are from an ancient land and cared for with natural means. Olives are handpicked and pressed immediately in the traditional local mill. As a result our oil is of the lowest possible acidity, without chemical additives or any kind of further processing involved. Packaging is taking place there and then, in the most strict conditions of hygiene. Labor of love of a family, instead of the product of an anonymous company, “My olive Tree” reaches each one as the age old gift of a new friend.”

The design: it is very rare for a client to come to us with the simple request of “creating a family gift” and this is exactly what happened in this case. We were asked to create a product identity – naming and packaging design of a product – which was meant to address first of all the members of a Greek family of olive oil producers in Karpofora, Messinia. We had to pay tribute to a strong, living tradition and this is exactly what we did. We used a children’s drawing that conveys in the most direct way a lineage in the form of a tree and we placed every family member’s name on its branches. We named the product, “My olive tree” because this is exactly what it is: the precious olive tree which, identified with one family tree symbolizes the bonds, efforts and legacy of this one family and is offered to a number of other such families around the world, in the form of an ‘olive oil’ present.

Timion Greek olive oil from Laconia

Τhe briefing (in brief): “we want to emphasize with explicit directness, the honesty and fine quality of our olive oil production”. Τhe target audience: foreign clientele. People who value smartly presented quality. The design: Honest Hellenic Products-Timion is one of the most present -relevant brand identities we have developed. At a time when Greece is openly criticized for misconducts, this brand identity adopts an unusually bold approach that verges on the humorous, while claiming a specific virtue as its very own differentiating quality. The logo design makes full use of the austerity implied by the brand name: honest, trustworthy, upstanding, are all properties indicated by the choice of fonts, the type of bottle, the clearly noted attributes of the product. Like an elixir, saved in modest, carefully measured proportions, the extra virgin olive oil of the laconian land travels abroad as a fine and well kept secret of the old but not lost Greek tradition.

Designed by Designers United

5 Organic extra virgin olive oil

Brand identity and packaging design for a new premium quality series of Greek extra virgin olive oil. 5 stands for quintessence in olive oil.

Designed by Bob Studio

Eleia olive oil

Company’s identity and olive oil packaging applications’ design, including glass bottles, metallic tins, wooden box and press presentation material design. The concept of the design idea comes from the process of protecting olive trees from bugs by painting them on the bottom part with white protection paint.

29th – Anniversary Olive Oil Packaging

An anniversary packaging for an olive oil, a tribute to the 29th Athens Classic Marathon, that took place in Athens, Greece, on the 13th of November 2011.

A line-drawing of an ancient Greek runner was made, in a way that it would form a pattern-like continuity. The drawing was then printed on the bottles and when more than one of the bottles were placed next to each other, the drawings gave the impression of the running crowd of the Marathon.

The pattern was further used for other applications, such as t-shirts, calendars and notebooks, as well as the exhibition’s kiosk.

Designed by: Sereal Designers

Moria Elea/Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Moria Elea decided to develop an innovative packaging design by using superior quality raw materials. The creative agency Sereal designers designed the artwork by highlighting the concept of “descending from the first olive tree” inspired by the Greek mythology. Moria Elea’s packaging is handmade & environmentally friendly. The bottle is made of top quality glass, the wooden cap has natural cork, the cotton labeling is sewn manually and the wooden gift box is designed especially for Moria Elea and is manufactured by hand. Thus, each bottle of Moria Elea is unique and is numbered on the front side, in a limited edition of 13.000 bottles for 2012. Moria Elea is offered in a 500ml single bottle and it is also available inside a wooden gift box. The single bottle will accompany your everyday meal while “decorating” your dinner table for a special occasion. Moreover, the wooden box is the perfect unique gift idea for every special occasion whether personal or business. Moria Elea was awarded with the Silver Medal at the “Best Packaging Award” at Los Angeles International EVOO Competition 2013!

Designed by Ar Design Studio

O2 Premium Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

O2 concept, emerged, as a balanced symbiosis of tradition and innovation.

Being dedicated to the proper implementation of ‘O2 Life’ innovative and eco friendly method of production, guarantee that the Olive Oil produced is of organic specification and of ultra low acidity, while preserving the highest amount possible of natural antioxidants.

For this purpose, Ar Design Studio carefully created, a special bottle for O2 Premium Organic Extra virgin Olive Oil, to carry it protectively to you.

Having searched the existing alternatives, the Studio decided to make the bottle as simple and elegant as possible, matching product’s fundamental philosophy.

In addition, they wanted customers to be able to see at first glance Olive Oil’s unique color and purity while O2 Olive Oil should be appropriately protected from oxygen, heat, and light.

O2 Premium Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Naupaktia region in central Greece, is a brand new product, of innovative design and production process. Apart from a minimal and delicate image matching the elegant characteristics of Greek Olive Oil, O2 has its highest value bottled inside, as a consequence of its unique production process. Carefully picked unripe olives are cold pressed directly after picking, two times a day, in a dual phase organic certified press mill. O2 is stored in ideal conditions right afterwards and hand bottled only upon demand, unfiltered, in the premises of O2-Life, the Company that created and supervises the whole production chain of O2 Olive Oil.

Each Bottle has its own Bottle Tracking Number (BTN), by which, the customer can login to our website (www.o2oliveoil.com) and retrieve information about the specific bottle, such as chemical analysis at the time of bottling, harvest date and field from which it was harvested, organoleptic features of the year’s production, etc.

References:

lovelypackage.com/

www.thedieline.com

www.packagingnews.co.uk

www.oliveoil.gr/

Speiron Company

Mousegraphics

Designers United

Bob Studio

Sereal Designers

Ar Design Studio

