OUGD501 - Intial Design Direction: Austrian Heritage

Taking inspiration from Austrian culture and design I analysed a range of archived tourism posters for design inspiration. I particularly liked the use of type in this example designed by Eberle Josef in 1952 for the Austrian tourist board, due to the poster being produced before the digital era it can be assumed the typeface used is wooden type that is uncatalogued. 

Creating a contextual link to the heritage and culture of Austria I searched for a close digital match to this authentic wooden type. I found a digital typeface with close similarity called GObold, it retained the large x-height of the original wood type while keeping a slim profile that worked well in retaining some of these digital features. Custom tracking further matched the large placement of the text in the poster, giving the type dominant and established connotations. This logo development creates a strong brand identity that is easily legible, creates contextual links to Austrian Heritage and looks sophisticated and well established to appeal to the status driven target audience. 

Establishing the importance of the physical bottle in the branding identity of luxury water brands I started to think about how this design treatment could be extended onto the bottle. The large x-height of the letterforms worked particularly well with the shape of the bottle complementing the products form nicely. I wrapped the logo around the circumference of the bottle as this allowed me to use the largest point size possible, filling a high percentage of the available space with the logo, this ensures it can also be seen from all angles making it easily distinguishable, a key feature for the status orientated audience. This large logo composition is further anchored by a smaller logo placed at the bottom of the bottle, accompanied by a small description; 'Austrian reserve' creating conniptions of high quality and exclusivity and small product description 'still spring water'.

This design direction work effectively in creating a high impact statement with the logo being constantly in view to show off the brand, making the bottle more about the brand than the actual water, which links to the theories discussed within my essay as consumers will buy this bottle so the luxury and cool connotations of the brand can be attributed to their sense of self.