When you walk into a liquor store, you get blasted away with hundreds of artistically designed bottles and cans. Personally, I get overwhelmed with what to choose. When I am looking for a type of vodka to buy, I tend to go for the bottle that has the best design, or the most interesting design. In fact, there are numerous studies that show consumers are more drawn to the design, rather than the actual taste of the vodka. Usually, the design of the packaging represents the brand attributes of the company. For example, organic vodka will often have an environmental feel to it.
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| Frozen Ghost Vodka |
There are so many different design
elements that make up vodka packaging. First, there is the shape of the bottle.
Some brands are becoming more creative with their bottles by making them look
unconventional. For example, Crystal Head Vodka has a bottle that is in the
shape of a skull. There is also Firestarter Vodka that looks just like a fire
extinguisher. There are many different bottle shapes, sizes, and colors. But
where does typography fit into this all? Does typography change as the target
audience changes? Does typography change as the ingredients change? How does
typography change as the bottle design changes? And why is it that the majority
of typefaces used in vodka packaging design sans serifs? These are all
important questions when looking into the world of vodka typography.
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| Crystal Head Vodka |
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| Firestarter Vodka |
Before I get to typography, I want to give
some background to the vodka market today. According to the Distilled Spirits
Council’s Economic and Strategic Analysis Department, vodka is the most popular
in the spirits industry, and generated over $5.5 billion in 2012. The
interesting thing is that the super-premium brands had the most growth last
year in the industry, and increased by 10% in volume. The three brands that
hold the most marketshare are Absolut, Smirnoff, and Grey Goose. The top twelve
brands in the vodka market are Smirnoff, Absolut, Ketel One, Skyy, Tito’s,
Belvedere, Stolichnaya, Svedka, Grey Goose, Ciroc, Pinnacle and New Amsterdam.
According to a package design audit by Affinova, the look of the packaging has
more to do with purchase decisions than the actual taste of the vodka. Brands
have either tried to stand out on the shelf, or remain true to their roots and
keep their iconic designs.
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| 10 of the Largest Vodka Brands |
