Design work was carried out by agency The Brand Union. The new bottles will be rolled out into stores this month with Absolut Pears and Absolut Raspberri the first?to market. The rest of the flavoured range will hit stores through 2013 and 2014. According to Absolut, the bottles "artistically express the core essence of each flavour".
Anna Kamjou, glob-al design director at Absolut said: "This is one of the most dramatic changes we've ever made, and our biggest and most transforma-tive 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 range is something extraordinary. The standard thinking says a fruit-flavoured vodka requires fruit imagery. 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."
Adam Boita, marketing controller for Pernod Ricard UK, said: "This is an exciting time for Absolut. While most flavoured vodkas look more or less the same, we are bringing a full range of innovative designs to market. Artistic, modern and unlike anything else around, we believe they will reinforce our position as creative leader and have unique stand out on shelf or on back bar displays."
"We brought a 'by-hand' aesthetic to the project," added Mattias Lindstedt, lead designer at The Brand Union. "And by that I mean we stepped away from our computers, grabbed paper, pens and brushes, and – following the long tradition of Swedish design and craftsmanship – set out to communicate not a flavour per se, but the core essence behind each flavour. And to do so in a quintessential Absolut way, under one harmonising idea."
