Oblivion Olive Oil – Packaging Design

In a modern society, the identity of an agricultural product is usually an outdated concept. This is mainly due to the -both literal and metaphorical- distance that the modern way of life maintains from the context of the rural everyday life; considering also that the agricultural product’s cultivation and production process is an integral part of this agrarian reality. This means that when packaged and standardised olive oil reaches our table, the only contact we have with it usually begins at the store shelf. This is the oblivion that has now prevailed, making the modern man of the urban environment forget the purity and authenticity of an agricultural product.

In this context, a series of top olive oils has been seeking its identity. Thus, it’s been our duty to retrieve from this mists of oblivion all those “forgotten” characteristics of these products’ substance and quality, which are directly related to their production, history and essence. So, at Artware, we embraced the Organic and Ultra Premium versions of this Extra Virgin Olive Oil with the meanings that were hidden in their Oblivion. Extracted from the most valuable fruit of the Mediterranean: the olive, a fruit that has defined the history, society and daily life of the peoples of the region over the centuries, and following the modern care of production and standardisation with quality and safety, the product blends harmoniously with the name “Oblivion” to remind the consumer of all those characteristics of its origin.

Obvious, Oblivion

The oblivion of Ulysses’s lotus-eating companions in the Odyssey and the oblivion of the average consumers in modern times are identical concepts. The only difference is that, today, the concept of time allows us to restore the product‘s semantic identity and the balance between the concept and the merchandise. Thus, Oblivion Olive Oil is accompanied by a semantic framework that “reminds” the consumer of the purity, quality and importance of the product itself.

The brand itself, through the package, functions as a semantic time-capsule that seals not only the structure and content of the communication strategy, but also the true identity of the content, protecting it from any loss of meaning and restoring what has been lost and forgotten over time.

80 – Time as a reason for existence

One of the main features of the product, which is an integral part of its identity, is the number 80. The number 80 symbolises the period of years, which mediates between the first green sprout of the olive tree and its age of maturity, which marks the beginning of its stable annual yields. That is why we have included this number in the packaging, and let it define the concept of the product: 80 Years in Making – 80 Years of Anticipation – 80 Years to Yield Stability – 80 Years to Remember.

The packaging in the service of the concept

Every aspect of the concept is embedded in the packaging, by selecting a bottle that represents the compact geometric identity of the characteristic Mediterranean curve, which can be found everywhere from the geographical landscape to the architecture and the visual arts of the area, and by graphically representing the number 80 on the label, which is framed by the lines of trajectories that indicate the passage of time. Additionally, beneath its ingredients and the product’s identity, an abstract, semi-transparent window, in the common curved shape of the Mediterranean architecture, offers an ideal glance at the precious content.