A twist of art, with a dash of commerce, has always been the recipe for cocktail magic at Absolut.
The bottle has been one of the most iconic examples of the possibilities inherent in strong linkages between package and brand. And TBWA/Chiat/Day has done it again by commissioning a number of contemporary artists with the tagline “It all starts with an Absolut blank.”
The video above shows the work in progress and this link will show you all of the marvelous imagery launched in the UK this week.
No need to say more, the work speaks for itself.
In the interest of full disclosure, this work would be successful even if Pernod Ricard were not a client, but fortunately they are.
Richard Shear is a Founding Principal and Creative Director of The Shear Partnership. He founded the firm, in 1993, to establish a design organization focused on strategic design excellence and the hands on interaction and management of the creative process.
He brings over 25 years of international consumer brand identity experience, with a wide range of clients such as Ahold, Coca-Cola, Hasbro, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Pernod Ricard and Procter & Gamble. He began his career with Lois/Chajet Design Group, a joint venture of the legendary advertising art director George Lois and the British design manager Clive Chajet. In his next design management position at Lippincott & Margulies, he learned the complex skills of international corporate identity.
During the late eighties he was a Creative Director and Partner at Peterson & Blyth, one of the premier package design firms of the time. Richard is a current Board member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts’ MetroNorth Chapter, past President of AIGA‘s Brand Design Association, President of the Package Design Council and a member of its Board of Directors. He is a graduate of Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, has written widely on the vital role of design and the creative process in the retail marketplace, and has been a guest lecturer at colleges including FIT, Trinity College and Tyler School of Art. He is a nationally ranked masters bicycle racer.
