Christoph Petersen Design has been synonymous with creative branding and packaging for more than 40 years, making it one of the dinosaurs of the industry. Since November, the agency has had a new management team and is stepping up a gear in terms of brand staging and packaging.
The company was named after its founder, a charismatic and ingenious designer whose clear vision ensured that exciting customers have always entrusted him with the development of their brands. Started as a one-man design office in the studio of the namesake's own house, the order situation was already so extensive after a short time that the first employees and new premises were needed.
Today, a few years after Christoph Petersen's death, the agency is based in the centre of Hamburg's Kontorhaus district with around 15 employed designers and strategists. And it still holds true today, inspiring and Pioneering strategy and design solutions for various well-known companies and brands in the consumer and luxury food industry, including Faber Castell, Fürstenreform, the Radeberger Group, the Bitburger Brewery Group, the Maisel Brewery and Efes.
The agency's new management duo has been responsible for this since the end of last year: Elke Pietzsch (Executive Director Client & Strategy) and Daniela Schuch (Executive Creative Director) are now jointly steering the fortunes of Christoph Petersen Design and setting completely new impulses. Both have worked for Enterprise IG, Brand Union, Dragon Rouge, Lothar Böhm and Windi Winderlich Design for many years and together build on 40 years of expertise in brand development, packaging design, innovation and naming.
Extensive experience in the beer segment
For decades, Christoph Petersen Design has been known above all for its successful brand developments in the beer and spirits sector, and not only in the beer and spirits sector. 2-D design level, but also in the area of Mould, box and other containers. Almost every German and countless international breweries have already had their packaging, including branding, designed and realised by the Hamburg experts. Most of them have been regular customers for years.
Brand classics and product innovations
An interesting aspect that literally catches the eye when looking at various examples: Christoph Petersen Design specialises in gently and impressively renovating the company's classic brands, but also in designing their younger generation, thus significantly shaping new category languages visually and contributing to market success in this way.
This is what happened, for example, for the Köstritzer speciality brewery, whose product Köstritzer Meisterwerke Red Lager was recently honoured by the trade journal Lebensmittelpraxis as a „Product of the year 2015“ and also received the „Superior Taste Award“.
Premium product demands premium design
It was already clear when the idea for the „Masterpieces“ series was born: a special flavour experience requires a special design. And so the agency took care of the Impulse at the PoS, initially for the first specialities Pale Ale and Witbier, and subsequently for the award-winning Red Lager. The aim was to convey exclusivity, and so the unique typography and stylistic elements, in particular the selected colour scheme, undoubtedly present a premium product. The reference to the high quality and tradition that the brewery stands for is supported by the labelling of the exceptional ingredients and the brewing process on the back label. The really outstanding thing, however, is that the speciality beer does not come in a standard container, but stands out on the shelf with an individual bottle, also from Christoph Petersen Design.
This was developed back in 2011 for the entire Köstritzer range; the classic brand was to be transported carefully, yet recognisably, into a new era. After the Hamburg-based company had already given the East German black beer a contemporary and high-quality appearance directly after reunification, the focus was now on giving the brand more space by reducing the design elements and increasing the contrasts. Transferred to the crate, a Branding area which is now used successfully throughout the Bitburger Brewery Group.
Modernisation for the traditional art of brewing
Also for Wernesgrüner they got to work. The aim for the Pilsner legend was to create a High-impact word-image brand to create more brand awareness - the individual elements of the original label were to be significantly modernised, but without abandoning the basic typology. This was achieved through the elegant seal and banderole look of the neck and body label, which gives the bottle a visual increase in value while at the same time being highly dynamic and recognisable.
Wernesgrüner's „youngest“ beer also features the eye-catching banderole solution. With „1436“, the company not only presented a new product that stands for both traditional brewing and current beverage trends, but also paid homage to the year of its foundation. This respect for historical values should also be reflected in the packaging.
And so the brand experts gave the beer the traditional brewing method a cool Retro look, The creative team came across a very special character in the history of the brewery, which they have now revitalised: the Wernesgrüner „Frischebote“. It has always suggested quality and effervescence to consumers. Now, together with the reinterpretation of the seal, the colour scheme, the striking typography and the newspaper look, it supports a design that is convincing thanks to its reference to history.
Customised glass bottle with integrated brand logo
However, outside the beer segment, the portfolio also contains corresponding examples of a simultaneous success story in terms of Brand classic and trend product find. The most recent work is for Adelholzener Alpenquellen: In line with the development of the 0.5-litre individual glass bottle, which the Hamburg agency implemented for the mineral water producer, the labels were relaunched.
Among other things, the mountain range, which shows the origin and home of the mineral water as a unique brand signal, was restaged and the overall look was made brighter and clearer. An optimisation and modernisation towards a deliberately pure design, but without losing the brand essence, which demonstrates the attributes of regionality, naturalness and freshness.
Neon colours for trendy drink
But also the appearance of the lifestyle soft drink Active O2 originates from the Hamburg studio: corporate design and Bottle shape were developed entirely from a creative pen and made the drink a huge success in over 30 countries around the world.
Already the prototype of a modern and young scene brand at the time, Christoph Petersen Design recently went one better: for the three new flavours Orange-Guava, Blackberry-Lime and Grapefruit, the specialists translated the flavours into a Powerful colour concept in the Neon look. Sportslock fasteners and labels now shine in eye-catching colours.
