The Absolut Company has given many of their flavored range of vodkas a design overhaul. The re-designed bottles include Absolut Apeach, Absolut Pears, Absolut Raspberri, Absolut Vanilia, Absolut Mango, Absolut Ruby Red, Absolut Berri Açaí, Absolut Äpple, Absolut Cherrys, Absolut Gräpe, and Absolut Wild Tea. Last year, Absolut re-designed its classic flavours Absolut Peppar, Absolut Citron, Absolut Kurant and Absolut Mandrin.
Their press release does not mention re-designing the following flavored vodkas, some of which were just launched this year: Absolut Hibiskus, Absolut Cilantro, Absolut Orient Apple, Absolut Grapevine, Absolut Cherrykran whose present bottles are shown below:
The press release:
Absolut is proud to announce striking new designs for its entire range of flavoured vodkas. True to the brand’s creative heritage, the vibrant new designs bypass design conventions to artistically express the core essence of the flavours in the Absolut Vodka range.
“This is one of the most dramatic changes we’ve ever made, and our biggest and most transformative design project ever. Our goal was to give our customers distinctive designs that are unlike anything one has ever seen. Vibrant, captivating bottles that bring energy to any occasion and celebrate the fact that every flavour in the Absolut Vodka range is something extraordinary,” says Anna Kamjou, Global Design Director at Absolut. “The standard thinking says a fruit-flavoured vodka requires a picture of the fruit on the bottle. We wanted to break that convention. We asked our design team to reach into the symbolism and myths tied to the ingredients to find each flavour’s core essence -- and then amplify that essence through art.”
Bringing an artistic approach to the redesign of its flavour range makes sense for a company with deep roots in the art world. Since 1985, when the Absolut Vodka bottle appeared in the first art ad, Absolut has been making art part of its consumers’ experience. “Absolut has long challenged conventions through creativity,” says Kamjou. “This across-the-board redesign is another example of the brand’s originality and boldness.”
After interpreting each flavour’s core essence, the designers worked to bring these notions alive artistically. They followed a long tradition of Swedish design and craftsmanship, and brought a ‘by-hand’ aesthetic to the project. That is to say, they stepped away from their computers, took up paper, pens and brushes, and set out to communicate not a flavour per se, but the energy behind each flavour. With Absolut Apeach, for example, soft pastels and a light hand-drawn gesture were used to capture the fruit’s evanescent, sweet fragility and convey a sense of romance:
The design for Absolut Pears began with the fruit’s symbolic association with longevity and purity, and arrived at an abstract pear shape resembling the symbol for eternity:
For Absolut Raspberri, the emotion of love and passion is intensified through the abstract expressionist technique of throwing paint:
The same artistic process was repeated across the range.
“Already back in 1979 Absolut challenged the norm of what vodka should look like with an innovative – and today iconic – bottle design. Today we transform the design of flavoured vodka,” says Jonas Tåhlin, VP Global Marketing at The Absolut Company.”Our new bottles are modern, artistic and unlike anything else on the market. Put any one of them on the table, and it instantly becomes something to talk about.”
Credits:
Global Design Director: Anna Kamjou / The Absolut Company
Global Design Manager: Caroline Mörnås / The Absolut Company
Design Agency: The Brand Union
Creative Director: Mattias Lindstedt
Executive Strategy Director: Jonas Andersson
images courtesy of Absolut Company