Branding brings Bombay Sapphire distillery to life

Dominic Burke, creative director at Webb deVlam design agency, explains how the branding on the luxury limited edition bottle for Bombay Sapphire gin brings the new Laverstoke Mill distillery to life

Dominic Burke Webb deVlam

Opening at the beginning of this month, Bombay Sapphire’s new Laverstoke Mill Distillery, located deep in the UK countryside, offers visitors a chance to experience the history and craftsmanship first hand. As part of this experience, global strategic brand design agency Webb deVlam helped the brand create a limited edition luxury gift pack featuring a complementary design that further highlights the history, heritage and experience of the distillery.

Located deep in the heart of Hampshire, England, Bombay Sapphire’s distillery features beautiful glasshouses that house the botanicals used as part of the gin’s recipe, open spaces where visitors can explore the grounds, finding information about the distillery’s history and the current day operations of Laverstoke Mill. So Bombay Sapphire tapped the agency to create the unique gift pack that visitors could take home and continue to feel part of the Bombay Sapphire experience.

Work began on the project in the spring of 2012 with the agency’s visit to Laverstoke Mill, followed by several collaborative ideation sessions with the brand team to understand and elevate the emotional experience intended for the distillery’s visitors. With this, the agency developed the new visual language that weaves together the distillery, bottle and packaging.

The big idea became a focus on ‘imagine what you can discover,’ and how this could resonate both on-site and as part of the new LE bottle. The agency proposed a hand-drawn illustration that could combine the current Bombay Sapphire equities in a creative and imaginative way with the historical elements of Laverstoke Mill. Renowned illustrator Si Scott was commissioned to create the illustration that can be seen on the bottle and package today.

Highlighted within the design are unique traits of the gin production itself including the hand-selected botanicals, the distinctive vapor infusion processes and the product’s craftsmanship. The illustration also captures the simplicity and beauty of Laverstoke Mill’s architecture, with focus on the beautiful glasshouses that visitors can explore.  This became the grounding element for the rest of the brand expressions, providing a great extension for an eventual marketing campaign for Bombay Sapphire.

This new bottle and package design by Webb deVlam recently won the Special Edition category from the UK’s inaugural Luxury Packaging Awards, as well several awards from the Starpack Industry Awards, including a Gold for Best Use of Materials and Bronze for Creative & Sustainable Graphic Design & Decoration.

About the bottle

The new limited edition bottle is taller and slimmer than the traditional Bombay Sapphire gin experience, reinforcing the product’s premium and refined nature. The shoulder detailing of the bottle takes inspiration from the distillery’s glasshouses, creating beautiful light refractions in the faceted glass. The stopper shape echoes a jeweled crystal and references the glasshouse structure the metal details match the actual color of the metal trim featured on the glasshouses at Laverstoke Mill.

Additional details can be seen within the gift packaging design that echoes the brand’s 250^th Limited Edition bottle gift pack, so that when displayed together, they retain a family feel. These uniform elements include the distillery logo in gold foil and dark blue gift box coloring with soft touch finish. Additionally, a UV spot varnish on the front of the pack picks up light refractions that highlight subtle details, providing an eye-catching and curiosity-piquing feature.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watch the story of Webb deVlam’s work here: http://vimeo.com/98324357

14 October 2014