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Illustration student designs limited-edition labels for Kopparberg cider
Article by: David Millett
Publication date:Kopparberg cider bottles will get a limited-edition makeover this summer, using designs created by competition winner Paulina Adelia Grönlund, a second-year BA (Hons) Illustration for Communication student at Ravensbourne.
Paulina’s winning designs will be featured on Kopparberg’s three most popular flavoured ciders variants, ‘Strawberry and Lime’, ‘Mixed Fruit’, and ‘Pear’. Her design will be printed on 4.5 million bottles.
These will hit supermarket shelves as well as pubs, bars, and restaurants UK-wide over the summer.
This year’s theme was ‘free to be yourself’, and judges on Kopparberg’s creative team were immediately impressed with Paulina’s spooky designs.
bottles
This is an incredible springboard to Paulina’s career in design. In addition to having her designs used by the famous brand, Paulina also wins a six-week internship at the award-winning design agency ‘Neverland’ in London, and will have her final year of tuition funded by Kopparberg.
Collaborations with industry are integral to the Ravensbourne student experience, and this marks the second year of our exclusive competition with Kopparberg, following Ben McKay’s win last year. Students from across our courses submitted designs, including BA (Hons) Advertising and Brand Design, BA (Hons) Graphic Design, and BA (Hons) Illustration for Communication.
Paulina was presented with her designs printed on the bottles at a party held at Ravensbourne on Wednesday 18 May to celebrate the competition.
Reacting to her win on the night, Paulina said: “I felt stunned, shocked – and it was a huge release. I just want to thank everyone who helped me along the way, and all the support that I’ve gotten."
Paulina quote
When I read the brief, ‘free to be yourself’, I thought, this is in my ballpark, this is perfect! So, I just started drawing and sketching ideas down, and things happened naturally. I did what I liked to do because I felt like the brief really suited me as an artist and a designer.”
She described how she is looking forward to working at Neverland in the coming weeks. “I’m looking forward to being in the busy midst of things, being surrounded by the deadlines, the stress, the happy tears – just the life that happens at a design studio!
"I want to be part of that and see what it’s like. I’m always open for new experiences – that’s kind of what ‘free to be yourself’ is about, isn’t it?”
She also learned a lot about the process of refining a design throughout the competition. Students had the opportunity to submit their initial ideas and designs to Kopparberg, who gave feedback and suggestions, mimicking the real-world design process between artists and clients.
“I started by designing the characters, they were skeletons in the beginning,” she said. “I do feel like I changed the labels a lot. The ‘Mixed Fruit’ design had a hippie van on it in the beginning, and then obviously ‘don’t drink and drive’ – you can’t have a car on the label! But I didn’t think about that.
“The feeling or emotion happened naturally, but then the development phase was a process. I had to rethink things and try different options. And that’s also why I think it ended up as good as it did, because I had to change things so much, which I’m happy about. I’m happy I had to change it and really push myself.
“I feel like I’ve gotten a little insight into how the design process works in the professional world. But it makes me realise I don’t know enough yet! And that I have to get into it to know more.”
