New high end markets strategically choose Pierini Partners to obtain maximum exclusivity. Virgo and Lauquen are both clear examples.

Lauquen’s exclusiveness and South Virgo’s absolute superiority.

Similar to what happens with fine wines, water has become a unique category. This beverage has changed its aesthetics and refined its look to become a completely exclusive and premium drink. Lauquen Reserve and South Virgo had the desire to form part of this exclusive category in which glamour, sophistication and refinement go hand by hand. Both brands had two clear objectives; to be linked to fine beverages so as to form part of the exclusive category and transmit aspirational values to its consumers who long to belong to a refined world. When faced with the redesign of these waters, Pierini Partners focused its work in the development of a prestigious product that wouldn’t pale in comparison to any exclusive beverage and on the notion of transmitting a superior lifestyle through the use of proper imagery that would make the shopper proud of his consumer choice.

The design and its particular visual codes: In both waters, the design criteria was similar in many aspects. A simple and clean structure made for a good starting point, which combined with elegant calligraphies and rigid lettering resulted in a good balance between elegance and quality. There are many different visions on what a “sophisticated” graphic design should entail; the broad target has a vast conception and is open to innovative and audacious typographic games as a way to augment the bottle’s natural shapes and curves. In the case of South Virgo, for example, the bottle’s shapes where left to speak for themselves and special emphasis was placed on the brand design and the label’s general composition equilibrium was sought out by balancing whites and interlinings. This resource was also used in Lauquen, but in a much more toned down way, since its structural packaging is classic and needed more visual elements incorporated to the design, such as the neck label and text blocks that allowed bigger stand out.

Design considerations: The initial brief wasn’t simple; the design had to reach, in very little time and with a limited budget, the desired positioning, a high validation capacity and big sales. Adrian Perini’s vision was to reach the before mentioned objectives through simplicity in a way to reduce cost from illustrators, calligraphists, complicated colour pallets and other unnecessary expenses. Instead of these resources, a more traditional and sophisticated design was created and small aesthetic winks where introduced as a way to appeal to the consumer with a strategic and equilibrated image that potentates the feel of purity and quality.

Patagonia, present in both the brand and the origin: It was the clients desire to expose the origin of this exclusive water from a start. The Patagonia, in the south of Argentina, a place of natural beauty, is well known for its virgin and pure territories and its beautiful sceneries. Lauquen was a great name that combines both the native dialect with an interesting phonetic that allows a quick association with the Spanish for lake (lago). This stimulus is reinforced by the incorporation of referential texts on the label.

Lauquen, vital elegance: In the generation of a pack aligned to the category, Pierini Partners decided to study the codes related to fine wines so as to reach to the conclusion that, besides having formal and rigid structures, the incorporation of a fine neck decoration would be ideal for this design. The final result was fantastic and the bottle looks elegant and refined. Considering that the bottle is simple and clean, the design challenge was fulfilled in the transformation of such a simple pack into an elegant product. This shows that sometimes it is totally unnecessary to fill a design with things that have no meaning or thought and that good taste and ideas are much more adequate solutions.

South Virgo, extreme luxury:The radical difference between South Virgo and Lauquen or other premium waters centres on the bottle which is very elegant and functional. The bottle and the original shaping where provided by the client, who based the design on European tendencies regarding bottled drinks. Such original hardware gave birth to a fundamental question: what could the graphic design do to make the bottle stand out in front of consumers? The answer to these queries would be responsible for the asserted creative execution that Pierini Partners took forward. The intervention of the bottle was based on a minimalistic and centred composition with English calligraphy and sober lettering. The brand was created under the same principle of visual purity, achieving a simple and stylized identity that has a mystic fell. Even though a resemblance to Lauquen was not sought after, in this design there are also hint of Patagonian mystery involved.

The result: The designs for Lauquen and South Virgo have achieved the clients wish for superiority and sleekness, becoming magnificent symbols of innovation. Currently both brands are commercialized in the whole world with significant success. The vision of its creators and Pierini Partners unique design combined excellently to achieve a high quality design that is an example of stature.