VISUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LINGNAN SCHOOL OF PAINTING AND DESIGN PRINCIPLES FOR YUNFU PRESERVED PRODUCTS PACKAGING

Abstract

Yunfu Preserved Products (Yunfu Liangguo) are traditional regional food products from Guangdong Province with strong cultural value, yet their current packaging design often fails to communicate this heritage effectively to contemporary consumers. In the context of the Guochao trend, packaging design has become an important medium for connecting traditional culture with modern visual communication. This study focuses on the Lingnan School of Painting as a regional visual resource for Yunfu Preserved Products packaging. The objectives are to study the core visual characteristics of the Lingnan School of Painting and to summarize design principles for applying Lingnan visual elements to heritage product packaging. This study adopts a qualitative research approach combining literature review, visual analysis of 20 representative Lingnan paintings, design translation, and qualitative review by three purposively selected experts. The analysis focuses on four dimensions: morphology, color, texture, and composition. The findings identify the Boneless method, Water and Powder Infusion technique, mineral-pigment colors, negative space, and asymmetric composition as key visual characteristics of Lingnan School painting. Based on these findings, four design principles are proposed: the use of negative space, moist visual textures, asymmetric composition, and culturally grounded symbolic colors. The expert review broadly supported the four-dimensional analytical framework and the proposed design principles, while recommending minor refinements in the interpretation of color, Boneless and Water/Powder Infusion techniques, spatial relationships, and design-related terminology. These principles inform product-specific design directions for Preserved Plum, Dried Wampee, and Buddha’s Hand Citron, demonstrating how a coherent Lingnan-inspired visual system can support both cultural expression and product differentiation.

Keywords: Lingnan School of Painting, Yunfu Preserved Products, Heritage Packaging, Visual Gene Extraction, Design Principles