It’d be hard to argue any woman in the Greek pantheon has ended up with a worse rap than Hera, goddess of women, marriage, and childbirth. She’s best remembered in the western canon as a loser in The Iliad’s fated Judgement of Paris, Zeus’ long-suffering wife, and an object of fear for any mortal unlucky enough to attract the King of the Gods’ wandering eye. Why not remember her finer hours, like the time she descended from Mount Olympus to give humans the gift of rice seeds? Multiverse Studio helped the extremely stylish Italian brand Hera nei Campi put some respect on the goddess’ name by putting her face and legend all over their gorgeous, colorful rice containers. The lovingly detailed packaging is nothing short of divine, covered with elegant serif text, sparkling illustrations, and super-cool scalloped labels that unfold like an ancient scroll.
Hera nei Campi brings rice cultivation back to Southern Italy after 200 years. It does so with an unprecedented technological revolution and a new variety of rice: the Magnum rice.
For Hera nei Campi we structured the brand design, created the labels and three different packaging – one for each type of rice – in two different sizes.
The concept of the packaging is closely connected to the geographical area where the rice is grown, the Piana del Sele, one of the most productive territories in Southern Italy that lies near the ancient city of Paestum, today home to a magnificent archaeological area rich in perfectly preserved Greek temples.
The key, in the construction of the packaging, is the interaction the consumer must have with the box: by pressing in one point, the box opens and the jar with the rice appears.
The packaging returns to the user the idea of rediscovering rice and the land from which it comes. Just as the amphora had the function of storing and carrying something unique and precious, the box also guards the jar to protect its contents.
The label brings to mind the unrolling of a parchment. Along its 50 cm it is possible to read between spontaneous illustrations and serif typography the legend of Hera, goddess of Olympus who descended among men and gave them the seed of rice. The label is double-sided; on one side are illustrated the characteristics of the individual types of rice and on the other side is the brand storytelling.
User interaction and the prototyped design of the label does justice to the unique taste and characteristics of the product.
