3D Printed Covers Dress Up Absolut Vodka Bottles for Swiss Campaign Event

One of my go-to drinks is a dirty vodka martini (extra dirty, extra blue cheese olives), so I’m always on the lookout for the best one around. The key, obviously, to the perfect martini is the perfect vodka and I have to admit I’m a fan of Absolut. Their bottles are distinctive, but maybe without being particularly striking design-wise…until now.

As part of Absolut Vodka’s 2015 Switzerland campaign, the vodka giant worked with artist Alberto “Sting” Russo and design agency C:LYNK Creative Network to create a limited 50-piece run of bottle covers.

“The biggest challenge was to find a way to combine the Absolut Vodka universe with the Swiss universe,” Russo said of the task at hand.

The design theme that ultimately worked to best showcase the event, with the Swiss aesthetic in mind, was Poya. Poya, a traditional folk painting style from the Gruyère region, depicts the seasonal migration of herdsmen with their animals, ascending to the mountain pastures. The original Poya pieces, from about the 19th century, worked to inventory the herds–and now, Poya highlights the simplicity of the landscape, harking back to Swiss traditions.

Bringing together traditional Poya themes with the stylish lifestyle Absolut prefers in its branding was C:LYNK, which had its work cut out. The new ways and old are harmoniously brought together in the detail work available via 3D design and printing technology.

“Very small details and always trying to find a solution to make it happen,” noted Basil Thuillard of C:LYNK. “The collaboration with the artist was very inspiring and a source of energy. We took a lot of pleasure producing this bottle as it pushed us to test the limits of the technology.”

The bottle cover Russo designed features elements traditional to Poya aesthetic, such as pastures, animals, and trees, as well as the iconic shape of the Absolut vodka bottle.

“Style, impact and freedom of expression,” Russo noted as the keys of the design. “My motivation: the technical challenge and the use of a new technology.”

C:LYNK, headquartered in both Geneva, Switzerland and Shanghai, was ready to take on the challenge for the Switzerland campaign. With Russo’s art in place, it was up to the company to render the files into a piece optimized for 3D printing, and then to actually print (using a ProJet 3D printing system), as well as finish and paint, the 50 pieces of the run.

The design was unveiled on the bottle at two launch events, in Geneva and Zurich, along with a movie directed and produced by Zurich-based Prezios. Check it out below.

If you like the bottle cover Russo designed, good news–you can print your own at home! You can download the 3D files here. Let us know if you’ll dress up your Absolut vodka bottle in Swiss fashion in the 3D Printed Vodka Bottle Cover forum thread over at 3DPB.com.