To address the challenge of designing new graphics for a design classic like the ABSOLUT VODKA bottle is indeed a humbling task. With such a great heritage, the challenge to take product graphics to another level is equally intriguing and delicate. The industrial and graphics designers at Ergonomidesign had to handle both product and brand heritage with care, yet being bold enough to take the design aesthetics into the future.

 

The objective was to consolidate ABSOLUT’s position as a creative and innovative premium vodka brand in an increasingly saturated market. Besides strengthening the ABSOLUT brand in line with the strategy, the challenge for Ergonomidesign was to design a solution that can represent the more than 400 varieties of mango. The design solution must clearly convey the mango flavour - regardless of the spectator’s or consumer’s origin and preferences.

 

Warping graphics on liquid filled bottles  -  often considered a problem - were deliberately used to create multiple characters matching the varieties and flavours of mango. The designers started exploring the optical effects by painting lines and patterns directly on to water-filled ABSOLUT bottles. Unlike many bottle graphics being developed today, Ergonomidesign quite early in the process left 2D media behind, and started to sketch directly on to bottles.

 

The final design emerging from this exercise was exciting. It is as if the bottle comes to life when being moved. Mango-coloured lines dance and twirl around the bottle, creating optical effects thanks to the liquid in the bottle.

 

Monica Falk, Manager Product Innovation, at V&S, ABSOLUT VODKA, says of the final result: “The new ABSOLUT MANGO design enhances ABSOLUT VODKA’s core values. It fits perfectly with our flavour strategy, while at the same time taking a bold aesthetic step forward, setting a new standard for future products in the category. I believe that the extra dimension given by the optical effects in the graphic design will help the bottle to stand out in a crowd.”