The dark art of Stranger & Stranger

Alcoholic drinks packaged by Stranger & Stranger have a subtle and irresistible power of seduction. Their bottles, labels and caps tell true and fictional stories, epic and intimate ones, while always maintaining the balance between the transparencies of glass, the materiality of papers, the use of metals, ceramics, sealing wax, and various printing techniques. They use embossing, hot foil stamping, thickened varnishes, which stimulate our senses and our imaginations. This is all the fruit of a very dark art, ‘a specialist expertise shrouded in mystery’, as Ivan Bell, founder and CEO of the prestigious branding and packaging agency, with branches in London, New York and San Francisco, tells us.

By Michela Pibiri | On PRINT 82 | Versione italiana

Stranger & Stranger’s projects do not only have a high aesthetic value, but they also tell stories. In some cases they are fantastic and legendary ones, in others they are strongly linked to the history of the brand, its territory and its cultural heritage. What is your vision and approach to the project, starting from the very beginning?
The first thing we ask every client is what they stand for and why should anyone care about their product. We love stories that are rooted in truth so we probe for something interesting, ideally unique, that we can use as a strategic platform. We have to make sure that no one else is using the idea already and we have to make sure that the idea is appealing enough to entice the target consumer to pay good money for it. For example, we found traces of gold in the spring water used to make a whiskey, that’s a quality and unique product story that we called ’The Golden Dram’ and it informed every touchpoint of the design. If, after we dig, we can’t find anything then we have to get really creative and that’s where the fantasy and legends come in!

So far you’ve designed a wide range of packaging made of different materials, often mixed together in a very peculiar way: not only glass and paper, but also tin and metals, ceramics, details in sealing wax… How do you choose the most suitable materials for each individual project? And how do you select your substrate suppliers and printing companies?
We generally have to fit in with a client’s COGs (cost of goods) so that really dictates how much margin we have to play with and then it’s a juggling act. You might shave something off the bottle cost so there’s money to spend on a wax dip, it all depends on the creative direction. We’ve been doing this for a long time so we have a stable of producers we’ve used over the years that know how demanding we are and we trust to deliver on time and budget.

What is the most unconventional material you have worked with?
A long time ago we did the world’s first lenticular bottle label. Lenticular labels are usually used on flat surfaces so we had to develop a custom made lens that wrapped around a bottle. It took about a year but looked amazing on shelf and went on to sell 2 million cases of wine.
How important is customization and personalization in your work and how do you express them?
Every client wants a unique brand that they can legally defend against people who might try and copy them so we are constantly looking for custom brand assets that can be used both on and off pack for the brand.

Packaging is not only about bottles and labels, but also about caps. Can you give us some examples of particularly innovative, complex, relevant caps? Which materials and techniques have you used to make them?
We recently designed Italicus, a new expression of a classic Italian age old recipe for a bergamot liqueur, and the cap was the most complex we’ve ever done comprising of 9 parts. We all thought the client wouldn’t go for it, it’s certainly the most expensive cap we’ve ever designed, but he went all in. It came out perfectly and it’s an amazing bottle and cap that has been featured everywhere.

And talking about Italicus… What is your relationship with Italy? Can you tell us about some projects created for Italian brands?
We love Italian products because Italy has such a rich history and is the home to some of the most iconic design there is - Lamborghini, Armani, Ferrari - so there’s always plenty of visual inspiration. We’ve done Italian limoncellos, gins and we even redesigned and repackaged the iconic Martini brand - a huge project that took two years and was spread over 72 markets.

What are the most pressing requests in the sector right now? What are the most important innovations that you think should be developed and implemented in the packaging of alcoholic drinks?
The wine sector is ripe for innovation, desperate for it really. The spirits sector is constantly evolving and experimenting, we recently did a banana infused bourbon, and we are given artistic license to make the bottles and labels as exciting as possible. In contrast, the wine trade is still using the same bottles the french came up with a few hundred years ago and they are still hammering bits of wood in the top just as the Romans did. Over the past 25 years we’ve done some 7,000 projects and we’ve only been asked to design a custom wine bottle 3 times. All of this wouldn’t be as bad if they innovated with the liquid a little but we are left in the situation where there are 6,000 pinot noirs that are in the same bottle, with the same back label description, and little to choose against them but price. That’s why wine is getting cheaper. Spritzers in cans should be huge but hard seltzer has leapfrogged the wine trade. Wine is desperately in need of innovation.

Your packs are very classy and convey a sense of great elegance, thanks to the design, the materials chosen and the finishings. Is it possible to harmonize this with the growing need for essentiality and sustainability of packaging? How important is it that many of these packs are reusable and can become collector’s items?
If you look up Harris Gin on Ebay or Etsey you’ll see empty gin bottles trading hands for good money to be upcycled into table lamps and olive oil bottles. We’ve seen market stalls that were full of jarred candles made from our cut up wine bottle designs. We love that our hard work ends up as art and furniture!