Packaging design for spirit bottles: 10 tips for a perfect bottle design

In the beverage industry, craft spirits and their craft distillers have been growing and in high demand for several years. The variety and inventiveness of different craft distillates are as unique as they are creative. New tastes, new flavors and new herbs are used to create fantastic spirits. As modern as the drink itself, the Craft Spirits bottles that go with it are chosen with great care and creativity. The most creative and imaginative bottles can be found in the spirits industry today, as packaging design becomes even more important than before.

Packaging design is not only a question of aesthetics

The importance of a thoughtful strategic approach to brand development cannot be overstated. Of course, good product quality is crucial to a brand’s reputation and awareness. However, a strong brand image and exceptional packaging are essential to entice future customers to try the product in the first place. Attractive, creative and unusual packaging design is the most important tool to ensure the brand’s momentum and resulting longevity.

A perfect packaging design for spirits bottles

The packaging design of a glass bottle has to fulfill many functions. In most cases, it is the only means of communication that will appeal to customers from the first moment. A perfect packaging design should stimulate sales without additional information and should be naturally different from other packaging. The perfect spirit bottles should attract attention on the shelves and behind the counter. In addition, the glass bottle should express the brand’s personality to entice the potential customer to try the spirit. With the increasing number of craft spirits available in the market, the right branding and packaging design is essential for commercial success.

Top 10 Tips for the perfect spirits bottle packaging design

Here are the ten points to consider when designing the packaging of a spirit bottles.

1. The choice of the glass bottle

The first thing to think about is the appropriate glass bottle. The shape, color and size should match the brand image. Spirits belong to the high-end segment and therefore also need to be packaged in high-quality bottles. There are different bottle shapes for the different special distillates. You can choose between traditional bottle shapes or decide to create your own bottle shape to stand out from other spirits bottles. The noble presentation of the contents is the most important point in creating a packaging design.

Classic Spirits Bottles:

Currently popular spirit bottles:

Unique spirit bottles:

Personalised spirit bottles Crystal Gin

This extraordinary spirit bottle was launched by Rugen Distillery in June 2016. This gin bottle is not only distinguished by the shape of the glass bottle, but also by its color. The color of the glass was chosen by the client, as it should resemble the color of a crystal. This is a kind of packaging design!

Personalised spirit bottles Distillerie Louis Morand & Cie

Distillerie Louis Morand & Cie’s spirit bottles are also unique. The packaging design of the glass bottles of the fruit-based distilled spirits has been enhanced by embossing on the bottle. The brand is visible at the bottom of the bottle. Thanks to the fruit on the shoulder of the bottle, it is immediately recognizable that it is a brandy.

Personalised spirit bottles Etter Soehne AG

The Etter Soehne AG distillery has opted for a very special packaging design. The brand name appears on all glass bottles. This is an excellent way of enhancing the packaging and providing a point of reference for customers. From the magnum bottle to the smallest edition of the bottle: the brand’s image and packaging design are visible everywhere.

2. Your brand logo
The brand name and typography should be well chosen and communicate a unique character. The letters should contrast well with the bottle and be easy to read. This is important for the brand and its packaging design to be visible from a distance.

3. The design on the bottle
The choice of design on a glass bottle is very important, if you have chosen a standard spirit bottle. You can distinguish yourself not only by a special label design, but also by a screen or digital print directly on the bottle. For packaging design this opens up a wide variety of possibilities.

Silk-screen printing on a bottle
The screen printing process allows up to 6 colors to be printed on a glass bottle. To achieve an exceptional look of the packaging design, precious metals such as gold, imitation gold or platinum can also be printed on the bottles. To learn more about the screen printing process, click here.

Digital printing on bottle
In recent years, digital printing has been perfected and successfully introduced in the beverage industry as well. Digital printing is now the ideal tool for perfecting packaging design in outstanding quality. Digital printing has many advantages:

• Photos or images can be printed on a bottle
• Each glass bottle becomes unique thanks to the numbering
• Embossing printing allows the bottle to become a tactile experience.

4. Bottle closure
The closure is an opportunity to reinforce the brand image and communicate the quality of the product. This detail of the packaging design is important, as the end consumer will touch this part of your packaging every time they open the bottles of spirits.

5. Collar Branding
Whether wrapped vertically on the cap or placed around the neck, the neck label is a testament to the distillery’s attention to detail in the packaging design. It’s a great place to add a secondary message without cluttering the main brand image. The neck label can be used to color code different types of products within the line. Depending on the spirits bottle, the neck label can also be printed on the bottle.

6. The symbol of a brand
A custom illustration or graphic symbol visually expresses the history of a brand. It also serves as a distinguishing feature when describing the brand and is especially useful when the name is difficult to remember. These symbols can also be incorporated directly into the bottle, using a custom bottle shape. This is an effective way to differentiate yourself with your packaging design.

Personalised spirit bottles Trojka Vodka

The color and shape of these vodka bottles are incomparable. The eye-catching colors are particularly attractive to young spirit lovers. The Trojka spirits bottles are distinguished by the fact that the brand’s logo symbol has been integrated into the neck of the bottle. In addition, the glass bottles have been painted with an eye-catching color.

7. Keywords
A few keywords describing your product’s unique features or telling your brand story can be an addition to packaging design, as long as they don’t detract from the readability and impact of the brand logo and other important information. Themed keywords such as “organic” help make it a favorite brand.

8. Product type
Whether it’s whiskey, gin or vermouth, the product type on spirits bottles should be quickly apparent. However, care must be taken to ensure that the product type does not take precedence over the story or brand. The visibility of the product type on the packaging design is important so that the consumer can directly find what they are looking for.

9. Back side of the bottle
After the front of the packaging design has been perfectly staged and the consumer holds it in his hand, the back should not be ignored. This is the opportunity to tell the customer even more about the product. This can be done with images or text. Even more significantly, this can be done through augmented reality or a QR code that leads to a landing page with videos or additional information.

10. Legal requirements
Finally, it is of course important and essential that there is room on the packaging design for all the information required by law.

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