KOLBEN (Student Project)

Designer: Florian Beck, Tatjana Enes, Marcel Messner, Lukas Rüblinger
Project Type: Student Project
School: Hochschule der Medien – Stuttgart / Stuttgart Media University
Location: Stuttgart / Germany
Poster model: Curd Berger

Honest, authentic, strong – that’s KOLBEN, a real beer for real men. It’s the perfect refreshment after you spent a whole day in the forest chopping wood for your fireplace.

In this student project of the masters-program Packaging, Design & Marketing at Stuttgart Media University in Germany the task was to create a unique beverage brand including marketing, packaging and graphic design. From the earliest concepts to the production of the bottles and secondary packaging, we produced everything in-house at the University.

KOLBEN Wurzelbräu is a brand targeting men between 25 and 60 years. It sets itself apart from the competition by being very down to earth – it’s a beer and nothing else, without designer editions or mixed beer variations. It’s the perfect drink after a long day, at a barbeque in your backyard or for watching a game with your buddies.

The shape of the bottle is reminiscent of the first beer cans made in the 1930s. It has a massive diameter and is meant to be held by big manly hands. As an extra feature the bottles can be stacked for storage. Additionally the bottom of each bottle can be used to open the crown cap of another bottle. In that way the bottle is kind of a tool itself that should feel familiar to hard-working men.

The graphic design sticks to the brand values visualized by the strong hand wielding the forge hammer – as seen in the logo. The color palette consists of only black and white and the typography is strong and bold in order to further emphasize the plain, gritty and simple in-your-face approach.

KOLBEN Wurzelbräu is sold as single bottles, sixpacks and in sustainable crates made of corrugated cardboard. The beer is distributed in supermarkets but also in gas stations and hardware stores.

The Unique Points Of The Packaging:
– Unique bottle shape, reminiscent of old beer cans
– PET bottle with crown cap
– Bottles can be stacked
– Bottom of bottles can be used as bottle opener