By Deborah Jackson, editor National Liquor News
Western Australia-based banner group, Liquor Barons, has launched the Liquor Barons Emerging Artist Program to support local independent artists.
The program gives local artists the opportunity to create three original designs to be printed onto the paper bottle bags used throughout Liquor Barons' 61 stores across WA.
Chris O'Brien, the general manager of Liquor Barons said the idea came from the latest ALSA International Study Tour to Japan.
"The original concept came from the ALSA International Study Tour where we saw the effort and pride that went into the presentation and packaging of a purchase. So after looking around we thought that something we could easily do would be to upgrade our packaging to give the customer a slightly better experience, and at the same time, we saw an emerging trend whereby disposable coffee cups were having some really cool art placed on them and we thought that we could combine the two and upgrade our packaging and better the customer experience by joining forces with some local artists," he said.
The first artist to feature in the series is Luke O'Donohoe who, as a small business owner himself, understands the importance of being relevant in a crowded marketplace and the power of clever marketing.
"We came across Luke and really liked what he did, and we went down the path with him of creating those three designs and couldn't be happier. We think that they really help us engage with the sub-40-year-old market without really alienating anyone over 40," said O'Brien.
O'Donohoe, whose style tends to be graphic and illustrative with a focus on geometric shapes, lettering and figures, came up with three illustrations for Liquor Barons.
"When approached by Liquor Barons to create three illustrations I wanted to design images that were stylistically me, yet explored feelings or sentiments that everyone could relate to. I chose to use three figures accompanied by a phrase that had an obvious connection to the figure. An old man sitting on a bench taking a moment to just sit back and relax. The elegant image of Artemis aiming an arrow in her bow accompanied by the phrase 'shoot straight' was an effort to explore our ambitions, having something in your sights and aiming for it," said O'Donohoe.