black button container design
During my time at Owens-Illinois, a New York distillery called Black Button came to our design team looking for a redesign of their Cream Liqueur bottle. Black Button went forward with a design that my team collaborated on, and is currently on the market being used to bottle multiple Black Button liqueur flavors.
Black Button is a distillery established in 2012 by Jason Barrett, focused on craft spirits and using locally sourced ingredients. Black Button was looking for a way to stand out on the shelf and establish a unique shape for their brand.
I performed a market analysis and found that most competitors feature similar details such as dramatic tapers and traditional bulbs in the neck. My team felt that the rich, cozy nature of cream liqueur was not being represented in many of these bottles, and so we saw this as an opportunity for the direction of our designs.
What does cream liqueur feel like?
Liqueurs are often associated with after-dinner drinks and deserts, and can be added to coffee or even holiday drinks such as hot cocoa. To establish the mood of cream liqueur, I put together a visual board that established the rich, indulgent feelings associated with liqueur and established the design direction.
After Black Button chose a profile direction, the next step was to manufacture a prototype lucite version of the bottle which helps the customer understand bottle proportions and details before making final decisions.
The Final Design
Black Button went forward with a concept that I worked on, a bottle that focused on the indulgence of cream liqueur. The final design features a slight taper, a proud chest, and a small lip on the shoulder that gives the illusion of liqueur rolling down the side of the bottle. An abundance of rich flavor that invites the user to pour a glass and allow themselves to indulge.
