Creative Agency: Foxtrot Studio
Location: Warsaw, Poland

The concept of the old brand of vodka whose tradition dates back to ancient Slavic times. Starka alcohol is distilled from rye grain and aged in oak barrels with a small addition of lime or apple leaves. The aging period can be from 5 to over 50 years. The process of production is similar to what’s used with whiskey, but the final product has a completely different nature which makes Starka one of the most unique vodkas in the world. For such a unique product we wanted to create a stand-alone image that differs from anything that exist in the premium spirits sector. We wanted to emphasize this using it ancient origins reaching deep into the mythical Slavic times.

We refered to the oldest Slavic alphabet – the Glagolitic alphabet – contains characters not found in any known alphabet. Inspired by the shape of the Glagolitic letter S , we created logo – a simplified monogram representing Starka. At the same time we wanted that antiquity value does not dominate in the project, we wanted Starka to be modern and luxurious and fit well into modern spaces of bars, restaurants and also apartments. The logo is perfectly harmonized with minimalistic feel which we wanted to get for the whole brand. The shape of the bottle, and the direction of thinking about the other components was the result of simple geometric figures contained in logo, consistent throughout the whole project following the consequent character.

The result is a bottle of an axial section of a triangle with three variations depending on the length of aging which appeared through the selection of the materials from the clean glass for 5 years, sandblasted glass for 30 years and white ceramics for 50 years. The choice of materials was also intended to illustrate the process of aging Starka from the original completely transparent to white perfect stage of the aging of this unique alcoholic beverage. The complement for the project based on the same principles is a special glass called “kulawka” which in translation means “limping”. It is an another forgotten already Slavic tradition of drinking alcohol in glasses without feet – which can’t be set aside on the table without emptying the glass. Heating the drink in hand can help release the Starka’s full bouquet of flavor.