AWAKE
At the time, water with added hydrogen was still a niche product, and few buyers knew what it was. The packaging had to make the drink understandable at a glance, with a clear name and a watery blue that keeps it light. That mattered most at the launch: we presented AWAKE at trade fairs and industry events, where the can had to introduce an unfamiliar drink within seconds, on the stand and in people's hands.
I designed the packaging for both formats and prepared the print data for production, with art direction by Daniel and in co-creation with Sabine. For the pouch, I oversaw the packaging prototypes through to series production and coordinated with the producers.
The project was held together by my colleague Janina Peters. She led the business consulting and handled the entire administrative side of the venture, from its founding onwards, and we worked closely on everything the start-up needed. The drink itself, its composition and its filling were the responsibility of H2 Vital and its producers.
FAQ
The cans were produced and printed in Germany by Ardagh Metal Packaging, one of the few companies that print beverage cans in large industrial runs. Cans are not printed in CMYK: every colour is a separate spot colour on its own plate, with a limited number of print units, white included. The watercolour motif therefore had to be broken down into a few spot colours. The white, the visible aluminium and the special mirror varnish that gives the can its finish were each set up as a separate layer. On top of that come Ardagh's template for the can size, zones without text at the seam and the base, minimum sizes for type and lines, and a barcode that only works horizontally.
Before involving a manufacturer, we had our own prototypes made, with the designs printed on transparent film at a copy shop in Berlin; Wendero's office was on Kastanienallee at the time. The pouch itself was produced by a manufacturer in China, which sent the first samples within a short time.
A can only proves itself in use. For the marketing, Daniel and Sabine organised a photoshoot in Munich that took AWAKE out of the studio and into everyday life: in people's hands, on the street, on the move. Those photos then carried the webshop I designed and set up for H2 Vital, where the brand had to work on screen as convincingly as on the can.