Anatomy of Design

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ANATOMY OF DESIGN

Since its auspicious launch in 1981, the ad campaign of Absolut vodka has

consistently produced innovative marketing concepts augmented by clever

graphic design and strong typography. By building its fundamental identity on

the foundation of its austere yet (at the time) distinctively squat rounded bottle

with a short neck (now other distilleries have followed suit), the original series

of advertisements focused, as they do today, on the bottle and the familiar logo

printed on the glass, accompanied by the pricelessly durable slogan “Absolut

Perfection.” The early ads also showed the bottle interpreted in iconic ways by

a slew of contemporary artists from Andy Warhol to Keith Haring, which

decidedly contributed to the urbanity and stylish aura of the spirit.

As Absolut continued through the years, its ads stuck to a basic

conceptual formula that has positioned the bottle amid various enticing images

and a few memorable slogans. By frequently introducing new stylistic

mannerisms, the brand astutely taps into the zeitgeist. Each time, for instance,

Absolut rolled out new flavored vodka, a tasty new visual concept was added to

its revolving repertoire.

A 2000 series promoting Absolut’s Peppar, Citron, Mandrin, Kurant, Vanilla,

and Raspberry is one of many instances in advertising history where the

advertising helped trigger an emerging trend—what can be termed the

“new ornamentalism”. This amalgam of influences includes hints of Art Deco,

psychedelia, Op-Art, and Pop-Art seen through a post-postmodern distortion lens.

Each vibrantly fluorescent rendering, featuring stylized clouds, starbursts, flowers,

mountains, and geometric dingbats galore, is like a tiara in which the Absolut

bottle is the crown jewel. For added drama, an explosion or rainbow forms a

halo around the bottle top. The result is a stunning display of form and color

that alternately suggests a raucous club, sun-drenched island, or fabled strip.

The brilliance of the design is its ability to tap into an existing graphic

language while somehow taking ownership of it as well. With purism and

simplicity on the wane, the decorative mannerisms of this campaign, inspired by

more complex and chaotic graphic periods, contrasts with the elegantly austere

bottle. But just as the bottle is carefully proportioned, so too are the graphic

motifs. In fact, the symmetry of each vignette owes a debt to the classic

Rohrshach inkblot. Although not perfectly symmetrical, certain elements of the

design are flip-flop repetitions created for dramatic impact.

Perhaps even more directly of-the-moment is the attractive use of

decorative neo-rococo, neo-baroque, and retro Art Nouveau–silhouetted fleurons

and dingbats rooted in flora such as leaves, vines, tendrils, and roots, and

fauna too. The recent appliqué of such ornamentation appears at first glance to

rebel against modernist asceticism but, in fact, it represents a predictable return

to passé styles that surface at regular intervals, this time made easy by

computer graphics programs.

Despite the widespread use of the new ornamentalism, Absolut wears

the style well. It furthermore appropriates ownership because this ornament is

applied with enough subtlety to avoid overpowering its brand object, yet frames

it in a distinctive way.

Absolut Campaign

Designer: TBWA/Chiat/Day

2000 Absolut, ad campaign

ad: Megan Williamson i: Ray Smith p: Steve Bronstein s: TBWA/Chiat/Day

A series promoting Absolut’s Peppar, Citron, Mandrin, Kurant, Vanilla, and Raspberry is one

of many instances in advertising history where the advertising helped trigger an emerging

trend—what can be termed the “new ornamentalism”.

Drawing around photography

Symmetry

Fake dripping spray paint

Vector art and dingbats

1967 Hapshash & The Coloured Coat

featuring the Human Host and the Heavy

Metal Kids album cover

d:Hapshash & The Coloured Coat

p:Ekim Adis c:Minit/Liberty

1898 F. Champenois poster

d:Alphonse Mucha

1997 Post No Bills magazine cover

a:Dale Yarger d:Art Chantry

c:The Stranger

2004 Jay-Z/Linkin Park: Collision Course

CD cover

ad,d:Lawrence Azerrad a:Flem

i:David Choe c:Warner Bros/Wea

2005 Lady Sovereign: Vertically

Challenged CD cover

c:Chocolate Industries

2004 Los Amigos Invisibles: The Venezu

Zinga Son, Vol.1 CD cover

d,i:MASA c:Luaka Bop

2004 Semi-Permanent 04

program cover

s:Lifelong Friendship Society

2003 Flaunt magazine cover/poster

ad:Dimitri Jeurissen d:Natasha Jen,

Philippe Galovich p:Max Yawney

2003 Sprite Slim Can product design

d:Brian Collins s:Ogilvy & Mather

1893 The Peacock Skirt illustration

i:Aubrey Beardsley

One of the illustrations for the English

edition of Oscar Wilde's “Salome.”

2003 Get Born CD cover

d:Greg Gigengad i:June

c:Elektra Records

2002 This Is a Magazine—Love, The

Universe and Everything… magazine cover

d,i:Andy Simionato p:Karen Ann Donnachie

cw:This ia a Magazine

1967 Disraeli Gears record cover for Cream

a:Martin Sharp p:Bob Whitaker

1967 Bee Gees 1st record cover

d:Klaus Voorman

1966 Revolver record cover for the Beatles

d:Klaus Voorman