Thoughtful brand design transforms cultural heritage into portable, shareable experiences.
When a 268-year-old royal garden welcomes 20 million visitors annually, the opportunity for meaningful brand connection is immense. The Summer Palace Tour brand design by YeZhang and the team at Beijing Jiaotong University seized this opportunity with a powerful insight: heritage becomes memorable when visitors can hold it in their hands. The design team created a comprehensive visual identity using 2.5D illustrations of more than twenty traditional Chinese buildings, rendered in a historically authentic palette of black, red, and green. These illustrations transform architectural documentation into visual invitation. Buildings gain personality. Rooflines become rhythmic patterns. The Golden A' Design Award-winning project demonstrates that cultural institutions flourish when they treat brand identity as portable experience.
The most transferable insight from YeZhang's project is the Small Hand-carry philosophy. The design team developed a product ecosystem where visitors hold history in their palms: a souvenir box containing posters, key rings, adhesive tape, envelopes, and notebooks. Each item uses specialty papers and printing techniques like screen printing and gold stamping that communicate respect for cultural significance. Key rings transform architectural illustrations into wearable artifacts. Adhesive tape allows visitors to incorporate Summer Palace imagery into personal creative projects. For brands seeking lasting connections, the mechanism works precisely: physical products become memory anchors that trigger recall months after initial contact. When someone glimpses a key ring or uses branded tape, the full experience resurfaces. Cultural institutions, tourism organizations, and heritage brands can apply ecosystem thinking to create touchpoints that travel far beyond initial encounters.
The Summer Palace Tour design reveals a principle applicable across industries: brand experiences gain longevity when they become holdable. Physical touchpoints transform single visits into ongoing relationships. For organizations building cultural or experience-based brands, the question becomes practical: what can your audience carry with them? The answer shapes how deeply your brand embeds in lasting memory.
