Wednesday 13 October 2010

Fictional Beverages made real


Duff beer from the Simpson's is something that's been made and can be bought in real life, though it isn't a beer, it's an energy drink. I like how the imagery has been kept so true to that of the cartoon. It's pretty recognizable.


For all those who watched Lost they will recognize this. The design of everything on the island has been stripped right back to the basics in black and white with the logo and saying exactly what it is. It has no frills.


Romulan Ale is an alcoholic drink from the Star Trek universe. It looks like it could glow in the dark which is a quality that I reckon PGGB could have.

Everclear and Absinthe

I've been looking at how the strongest alcohols have been presented. The image below is Everclear and apparently it's the strongest alcohol in the world. It...really doesn't look like much. It looks like an own brand of vodka or something from some store. It looks really cheap and like it's not going to be very good. Either way, it's almost pure alcohol. I've read that it's 190% proof or something.


Absinthe is another type of alcohol that's gotten itself a good reputation of being very strong over the years. Whereas everybody has heard of (and tried, probably) Absinthe at some point in their life, I for one had never heard of Everclear. Absinthe is packaged in so many different ways but of course, green is the main colour of the design. It's an old drink now so many absinthe bottles are presented in the fashion of vintage bottles. Of course it's much different now, weaker and doesn't have the worm in the bottom like bottles from turn of the century New Orleans. It was banned in 1912.



Pre Mixed Cocktails and Spirits


These are something that I found here. They are RTD (ready to drink) cocktails in eco friendly packaging. They're made of thin, softer plaster so they chill quicker and they come with a leak proof dispenser. They're easier to recycle than glass bottles and they look pretty nifty. Like alcoholic Capri Suns.


As my plan is to create Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster as an RTD product, I've been looking and these premixed cocktails from well known spirit brands. The above bottles from Smirnoff are large bottles and serve several people at any one time.


These pre mixed cocktails from other well known brands come in cans so they contain enough for just one person.



These are some more that come in single serve portions. The picture isn't very big and it's a little difficult to tell if it's a bottle or a can, but still. Single serve options may be a good idea for a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster but I think you're only supposed to drink a small amount at any one time so they would maybe some in miniature size bottles?


More pre mixed cocktails from West Eleven this time. These are large bottles to serve several people at any one time, or to serve one person many drinks. To each their own. I actually really like the design for these bottles. They look quite whimsical with a mixture of type and image and just two colours. They're simple but effective.


That is a whole lot of miniature bottles right there. I love getting miniature bottles myself, I have quite a collection building but most of them are back home in Grimsby and not here in Leeds. When I was in Gibraltar the booze was so cheap it was unbelievable. I found some amazing miniature bottles but couldn't bring them all back. I did find some Chartreuse miniatures which I haven't seen anywhere in this country, so I brought those back with me. Some of the bottles were amazing. I found this really tall thin one that had some kind of tequila in it but I'm kicking myself for not getting it there and then. The bottle shape that will hold my Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is going to be quite important.

Tru Blood

Tru Blood is not a show that I watch. I tried once, got about half way through the first episode and had to shut it off because the main character's voice irritated me so much. Oh well.

Something I do quite like about the whole thing is the fact that they created a drink for the show complete with packaging, branding and promotion. A lot of thought has gone into the whole thing and they've made all sorts for it, bill boards, shop window displays, multi-packs, variants in flavours.





Format

This is a pretty interesting beer carrier. It just goes to show that they don't have to all follow the same format as this one shows. This one to me looks a little low at the sides and I would be a bit worried about the beers falling out and smashing if I moved too quickly, but that's just me. The jagged edges of the box suit the design direction that the product seems to be taking with the rough, hand drawn type. It's pretty coherent.

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