Brand design for a long-established miso brewery founded in Edo Bunka Bunsei
We worked with Sugita Miso Brewery, located in the Takada Castle area of Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture, to redesign the packaging and other aspects of their "YUKI NO HANA" brand.
- Snow Flower Dancing in Miso Soup
In Echigo-Takada, miso is "floating malt miso," in which rice malt floats softly when it is made into miso soup. There are various theories as to why the luxurious floating malt miso was born, but the biggest reason is the spirit of miso makers in the rice-producing region who use rice luxuriously instead of wheat to produce the "malt" that is essential for making delicious miso. The fact that the character for “糀" is more commonly used than “麹" in our region may be an indication of this. Our miso is also a floating malt miso in the tradition of Echigo-Takada. The name "Yukinohana" comes from a customer in Tokyo who marveled at how beautiful the malt that danced in the bowl of miso soup looked like white snow. The white drifting rice malt is reminiscent of snow falling like flower petals dancing. It is the traditional craftsmanship that makes the "snowflakes" bloom in the bowl.
- A "taste of home" that you will never get tired of eating
We believe that miso should be a "supporting role" in cooking. This means that while miso itself has its own unique deep flavor and taste, it should not be overpowering and should bring out the best in the ingredients of the dish. This is because we believe that the original role of miso is to bring out the flavor of the ingredients without being overbearing. Because it is miso that you will use every day, we want you to have a genuine taste that you will never get tired of.
(Excerpt from Sugita Miso Brewery's website)
創業江戸文化文政 老舗味噌蔵元のブランドデザイン
新潟県上越市の高田城下にある杉田味噌醸造場様の「雪の花」のパッケージなどのデザイン刷新をDESIGN DESIGNで担当させていただきました。
- 雪の花舞う、お味噌汁
越後高田で味噌といえばお味噌汁にしたときに米糀がふわりと浮く「浮き糀味噌」。なぜ贅沢な浮き糀味噌が生まれたのか諸説ありますが、一番大きい背景は、美味しいお味噌づくりにかかせない「糀」を作るのに麦は使わないで米を贅沢に使うという米どころの味噌屋の気概でしょう。当地で「麹」より「糀」の字が普通に用いられているのも、そのあらわれなのかもしれません。当蔵元の味噌も越後高田伝統の流れを組む浮き糀みそです。「雪の花」の名の由来は、味噌汁にしたときにお椀に舞う糀がまるで白い雪のようにきれいだと感嘆した東京のお客様が名付けてくださったことから。白く漂う米麹は、花びらが舞うように散る雪を連想させます。お椀に「雪の花」を咲かせるのは、伝統の職人技です。
- 食べ飽きしない「家庭の味」
本来、味噌は「料理の名脇役」であるべきと考えております。それは味噌そのものが独特の深い味わいと風味を持ちながらもでしゃばらず、料理の素材の持ち味を生かすこと。そしてさらに一体となって旨さを引き出すことこそが、味噌本来の役割だと考えるからです。毎日使っていただく味噌だからこそ、食べ飽きしない本物の味を味わっていただきたいのです。
（杉田味噌醸造場様hpより抜粋）
