Before I started designing the actual bottles I thought i'd research the previous years' christmas bottles to see if there was any consistency within the bottle design. I found that the colour red has always been used and reallistically thinking about this, it makes sense because this red is what has branded santa claus and christmas so it's important to keep using this. It's also a way in which the brand is recognised as well as linking to christmas. When it comes to my own designs now, I know the main colour I will try and utilize is red.
I came up with the concept of using the christmas imagery in a repeat pattern style on my own bottles but I wanted to see if this had been used by any previous designers of the limited edition bottles. I found a few examples of bottles that had been done using this style so now i'll have to think about how I can make my designs more unique whether it be the style of my artwork or the way in which I apply it. These images also gave me inspiration for my own work.
Just by coincidence I was in town one weekend and Coca Cola happened to be promoting the latest limited edition range of Coca-Cola bottles so I picked up a free bottle of Diet Coke with the consideration that it may prove useful for my research. I was able to see what relevent information needed to be included on the bottle, how they had gone about laying both the back and front of the bottle design out and also the quality of the print. Due to the fact I'm focusing more on the actual bottle design and the promotional side of a limited edition range all the extra information isn't as relevent but it still needs to be considered because I need to leave space within my designs for these factors. Seeing the bottle printed like this also gave me ideas for the materials I'd like to consider when it comes to my own designs but this form of printing will be proposed.
During the summer I also picked up the complete set of the olympic range for this London 2012. It was great to be able to compare to two bottles because although the material of the bottle was the same, the designs were completely different. This shows that there isn't really any limitation in what I design because many different designs can utilize the bottle design and shape. This bottle also proved good for research because all of the olympic ones have been packed in this cardboard case. I imagine the reason for packaging this is because London 2012 is such an important event and a once in a lifetime thing so the quality of the product needed to be higher than that of the other bottle designs. This is seen as more of a collectors item with the event that it is connected to. The type of packaging and whether the item is packaged at all will definitely depend on the purpose of the bottle range. I think with my own bottle range it will not need to be packaged like this because the idea of my concept is to sell the bottles so the packaging would be a waste because it would just be thrown away. I also think in a way that the packaging takes a lot away from the actual bottle design because it hides the majority of the design.
During a sensual and exclusive show at the legendary Crazy Horse club on April, 12th Jean Paul Gaultier revealed the 3 new bottles he has designed for Diet Coke. Enticingly lit up by the cabaret dancers, the bottles gradually appeared as if they were part of a kinky strip-tease. Jean Paul Gaultier also explained how much he enjoyed 'dressing' these bottles thanks to their feminine curves. The fun-loving couturier took his inspiration from the very graphic Diet Coke logo and teamed it with classic Gaultier symbols to create an ultra-glamorous result; a combination of corsets, sailor tops, fishnet stockings and tattoo prints on skintone bottles. The launch evening then continued at Trianon with the Night & Day Serial Designer Show. Several celebrities dear to the designer made the trip, including actress Gemma Arterton, Tonie Marshall, Arielle Dombasle, Anggun, Josiane Balasko, the highly influential fashion writer (and friend of Jean Paul) Suzy Menkes. JPG models were also spotted on the dancefloor, including the absolutely sublime Michelle Buswell (the face of the perdume Classique) who rocked the party during the Dragonette concert. Everyone hit the bottle in
Paris that night, but not the kind of bottles you would think!
As Jean Paul Gaultier's bottle design is the latest to be launched in the limited edition range I felt this would be some of the most relevent research. I have looked at the elements in advertising used to get this bottle range out there so I can apply the same or similar methods to my own campaign for my design. I find the general artwork used on the bottles this time quite simplistic yet very sophisiticated so this is also something to bear in my mind with my own work. The fact he has placed himself within the adverts too may seem like a way to sell more bottles if the consumer is a fan of him in particular. With my own work i've already thought about the fact i'd like the bottle to be the main focus but still think this overall campaign is very creative and effective.
As there are so many things that link to christmas and can be used as visuals, I decided to create a survey that I could send out to friends and family on facebook to see what their opinions are on what reminds them of christmas most. The top three answers will be the ones that I take forward into my bottle design illustration.
Instead of researching christmas which I thought wouldn't help me that much as I already know all about it, I decided to research what existing Coca-Cola christmas products there are as I decided this is the area i'm going to focus on because it has the biggest market. All of the products tend to have quite a traditional look to them and this has made me consider the direction that my own work could take. It also gives me an idea of themes I could do that haven't been done before for example, penguins on a bottle.
I also looked at existing design that other people had done as personal projects rather than actually for Coca-Cola so that I do something new rather than doing whats already been done. These designs have also inspired some of the ideas I now have for this project. The interesting thing about this was there is a mixture of contemporary and more traditional ideas.
These are a range of exisiting Coca-Cola designs I found online that have been done by other people but not put into production. I chose some of my favourites based on the design style and the colour that has been used. This gives me an idea of what has already been done and makes me consider what I can do to be different. It also gives me a few ideas of the direction my work could go in and how I can make ideas work across a range of products.
I've also looked into Coca-Cola's tv advertising although I am not going to be producing a tv advert. From viewing these I can see the sort of name the company are trying to give themselves and whether their advertising involves humour and to what particular audience they are promoting themselves.
Above are some examples of advertising from Coca-Cola from over the years and also ways in which they have been promoting themselves eg. via the olympics. I've gone for both old and new examples to see how it may or may not have changed over the years. One thing I can see throughout is that the iconic red of Coca-Cola tends to be a continuous theme so this is something to consider within my own designs. Their famous logo also tends to be present as this is a further way or being able to regonise the product straight away.
Coca-Cola release a limted edition bottle every year that they have created by a guest designer. Here are a few examples of some of those bottles from the last few years. Each tends to have a theme or be based around the artist/designer themselves.
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke (a registered trademark of The Coca-Cola Company in the United States since March 27, 1944). Originally intended as a patent medicine when it was invented in the late 19th century by John Pemberton, Coca-Cola was bought out by businessman Asa Griggs Candler, whose marketing tactics led Coke to its dominance of the world soft-drink market throughout the 20th century.
The company produces concentrate, which is then sold to licensed Coca-Cola bottlers throughout the world. The bottlers, who hold territorially exclusive contracts with the company, produce finished product in cans and bottles from the concentrate in combination with filtered water and sweeteners. The bottlers then sell, distribute and merchandise Coca-Cola to retail stores and vending machines. Such bottlers include Coca-Cola Enterprises, which is the largest single Coca-Cola bottler in North America and western Europe. The Coca-Cola Company also sells concentrate for soda fountains to major restaurants and food service distributors.
The Coca-Cola Company has, on occasion, introduced other cola drinks under the Coke brand name. The most common of these is Diet Coke, with others including Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola, Diet Coke Caffeine-Free, Coca-Cola Cherry, Coca-Cola Zero, Coca-Cola Vanilla, and special versions with lemon, lime or coffee.
Based on Interbrand's best global brand 2011, Coca-Cola was the world's most valuable brand.
