The Spearhead Group continues to invest in R&D of new Physical Brand Enhancement™ offerings, and one of our favorite ways of doing so is working closely with design and engineering schools such as IED Torino – Istituto Europeo di Design. At the end of 2019, Spearhead created and sponsored a spirits brand development program with IED Torino – their assignment was to create a brand identity and packaging for a hypothetical global Brown Spirit designed to attract the global millennial market, particularly with their focus on social media for learning about new brands. We were so impressed with all of the designs presented by the students, particularly with the winners of the competition. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic we were unable to showcase all of these creations until now, starting with the winning team.
This winning team created a brand they called “SpeakEasy” a complete design throwback reminiscent of the 1920’s in America. We love the design so much that we decided to commission our global R&D team to make this design come to life. This includes not only the glass bottle but also the extremely unique box design that has a “secret locking mechanism” (like the secretive nature of a real speakeasy) which utilizes the matching glassware included in the set as a “key”. This unique function requires some fun engineering, combining art and function. Luckily, the winners Elena and Anita provided CAD and engineering files as part of their response to the project. Read more about the last year’s winners announcement here.
“At The Spearhead Group, we really enjoy working with design students because they do not limit their imagination to basic market offerings. When design engineering students dream, they dream big, bold and unapologetically! I love this bold design created by the winners of Spearhead’s previous year’s competition, Elena Frigerio & Anita Solero,” shared Robert Catalano, Chief Innovation Officer and Co-founder, The Spearhead Group. “I am so proud to be able to commission these designs into Spearhead’s lineup of offerings to our clients. The bottle, closure, glassware and luxurious wood box will all be production ready very soon, and our clients can take advantage of a complete packaging and brand identity that is ready to go for the right liquid.”
“We are happy and enthusiastic to have had the opportunity to participate in this project which has proved to be extremely interesting and stimulating and thanks to which we have been able to explore new areas of design, interfacing with a large international company such as The Spearhead Group,” said Elena Frigerio & Anita Solero, Alumni of IED Torino – Istituto Europeo di Design
About IED Torino – Istituto Europeo di Design
IED Torino – Istituto Europeo di Design was founded in 1966, product of the remarkable vision of Francesco Morelli. Today IED is the only Higher Education Institution in the creative field to have maintained a completely Italian identity over time. Every year IED launches innovative training projects in the fields of Design, Fashion, Visual Arts and Communication, developing new forms of learning and designing new models for interpreting the future. IED is an internationally recognized network consisting of 11 sites, 7 of which in Italy – Milan, Cagliari, Como, Florence, Rome, Turin and Venice – 2 in Spain – Barcelona and Madrid – and 2 in Brazil – Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. IED educational offer includes Undergraduate courses (First Level Academic Diplomas, Título Superior en Diseño, Diploma de Bacharelado, BAH Diplomas and IED Diplomas), Postgraduate courses (First Level Master and IED Master courses) and Continuous Training courses. IED counts on a network with over 1,900 teachers, active in their respective sectors, to ensure the perfect functioning of IED training experience.
If you would like to learn more about the availability of this design, please contact Pamela Wyatt Ashcraft.