Client: Diageo
Project: Johnnie Walker Blue Label Brand Identity & Packaging
Sedley Place designed the first packaging and graphics for Johnnie Walker Blue Label in 1988. Originally called Johnnie Walker’s Oldest - as the product was a blend of 60-year-old whiskies - Blue Label was created to elevate Johnnie Walker to a premium not a commodity brand positioning. Our design of the bottle, based on Victorian blue glass bottles, was an attempt to recreate history and allow the consumer to be transported back in time. So, when we were briefed 20 years later to develop the brand, we were especially mindful of the brand’s equity.
In addition, the Royal Warrant and JWS monogram are now printed directly onto the glass in gold to glorify these iconic features; a lighter Cobalt Blue glass colour was employed, in the process moving away from the heavier old green glass colour, to allow the whisky to shine through; the individual bottle numbering was made more prominent and now uses fewer numbers to highlight the whisky’s exclusivity; a larger, more detailed stopper was designed with finer detail to the foil closure; a tasselled charm, featuring the Johnnie Walker ‘Striding Man’ and Johnnie Walker’s founding date was added to the closure detailing, and the main and base labels were made thicker and more beautifully detailed.
On the strength of the new packaging’s effect on sales volumes and market share our new packaging won a DBA Design Effectiveness Award, as well as a Cannes Lion.
We designed a new bottle with an ultra-thick glass base and side walls, which frame the precious liquid, to ensure stand-out and provide impactful luxury cues. Slight variances in the height at the base of the bottle reinforce the Blue Label story, by commemorating the 19th century design original, adding hand-crafted cues and communicating a rarity message. The effect of the glass and base is that the liquid feels suspended in the bottle.
