Bravado Imports achieved this effect using color “comps,” which are reproductions of actual package samples. This approach is a departure from brand owners that typically work from package renderings generated on a computer screen.
“Appearance was critical to achieving the premium look,” says Carl Perman, senior vice president at Comp24 (www.comp24.com), which created Quay Vodka’s color comps. “In 2-D on a monitor, you would not get a feel for the transparency. Here, the saying, ‘What you see is what you get’ is not true.”
The Quay brand name and logo are spray-painted directly on the front panel of the square-bottle surface. Additional copy is silk-screen-printed on the sidewalls. That frees up the front panel to remain “clean,” with what Joseph Durovey, Bravado Imports executive vice president, describes as a “Quay Mediterranean Blue” color gradient ending about one-third of the way down the slim, tapered bottle.
Durovey, says the goal was for a rich, slightly greenish-blue color to reflect colors of the Mediterranean Sea. Comp24 conducted color studies with explorations initially evolving from magazine advertisements and other blue-paper examples. Bravado gave Comp24 smaller-size samples of its new bottle to test different color options.
Saverglass applies the colors and label information using a proprietary painting process that includes clear- coat protection. Bravado continues the Mediterranean theme and wave icon on white-coated SBS six-pack cartons.
“It was extremely helpful for our bottle manufacturer to have the Comp24 bottle to copy and get the translucency precisely correct,” Durovey adds. “The other comp gave us a sample we could photograph and work with so we could get started on our own promotional material.”
