Heineken
A few years ago, 1999 to be precise, Heineken ran a competition to design a new beer brand. It was a pretty open brief - design what you like, as long as it"s beer. I came up with a design for a brand of beer that was aimed at the young early adopters of our generation. The project was highly commended in the competition which attracted over 1400 entries worldwide.
Stijl is the new drink for the young, early adopters of our generation. They are keenly aware and appreciative of creative ideas, and are willing to reward them with their custom as long as the design has expert approval. Their jobs require frequent travel, and as such have a much greater cultural vocabulary than previous generations of young achievers. These are the "Urban Nomads"
The urban nomad drinks beer rarely, and if so, expensive brands in bottles. He/She disdains the "lager lout" culture associated with current brands. What they desire is a drink with a sense of occasion, rather like a brandy or fine red wine. Stijl is unlike other lagers in that it is almost serenely still: the taste of a premium lager with the creamy texture and refreshing quality of British "bitter" or stout served ice cold. Without excessive gas, Stijl moves away from cheap, fizzy lager and becomes a pleasant way to relax; a fine drink to consume in volume, without lager"s attendant gaseous drawbacks.
The name, Stijl works on many levels. Pronounced in English it is the descriptive "still" in reference to the tranquil state of the liquid inside. It also has connotations with distilleries where fine spirits are produced. In Dutch, "Stijl" refers to the drink that is the quintessence of style and taste in our modern society. It also refers to the beginnings of the modern movement in the arts "De Stijl", whose members believed in paring down objects and forms to their essential geometric nature, discarding the unnecessary cultural baggage of ornament.
In addition, as with the successful Czech beer Staropramen, or the Vodka Stolichnaya, Stijl allows customers to boast of their "correct pronunciation" of the brand forming an important bond with the product for an image-concious target audience.
The packaging and branding of Stijl has been simplified further than any previous generation of beer. The Font, "Futura Display" was designed in the mid twenties in an attempt to simplify type for machine production. Bold and without ornament it remains one of the strongest and most eye catching fonts available. Simple and to the point, it exemplifies the ethos of Stijl.
The can is beautifully machined aluminium. Beers with image usually come in a bottle, but by highlighting the integral beauty of machine made products, we have elevated the usually lowly status of the "tin can". It holds less than a standard beer can, 250ml, ensuring that the product doesnt have a chance to warm up. Rather than the usual "tall and thin" format format for smaller volume cans, we have used the standard diameter of beer cans and created a package that is squat, chunky and feels substantial - no other can looks or handles like it.
Stijl has a unique two-hole lid. This ensures that the beer always flows from the can with no spillage. This also highlights the fact that the beer is not intended to be consumed directly from the can, setting it apart from any suggestion of "loutishness". Its design ensures that Stijl is enjoyed in a glass.
The "ring pull" takes the form of a red tab of metal to set off the minimal nature of the can. All brand naming and advertising is restricted to thetab. Open the can and the brandingis superficially lost. The consumer is left with the ultimate in clean lines-a completely silver can unobstructed in its form by words. To a consumer keenly aware of image, the idea of drinking something without a recogniseable brand will appeal. The design thus achieves the paradox of being heavily branded and at the same time anonymous.
The "ring pull" is as important to the brand as the can itself, as identifiable and unique as the grolsch bottle top. Upon opening, a piece of curved metal is left in the hand - an attractive, easily recognisable piece of detritus signifying the shedding of consumerism in a heavily consuming society.
