My idea was to tell this story through the design of four limited bottles of Dutch Genever. As the project explores visual storytelling, the project is based on extensive factual and visual research. The text presented on the design serves as a tribute to the street’s background history and the architect that designed it:
Front: "In the middle of Grønland and Old Town you find Hollendergata. The block was designed by the architect Herman Major Backer and was given its name in 1901. The export of lumber to Hinlopen had a central role in Norwegian trade since 1560, and the name Hollender reminds us of Norway's important relations with the Dutchmen."
Back: "Herman Major Backer was educated at Wilhelm von Hanno's School of Design and the Royal College of Arts in Christiania. After the studies, he established his own practice in 1882 and ended up being a highly acclaimed architect in the decades around 1900."
Craft wise the design is mainly based on old fashioned, analogue techniques. The limited bottles are painted by hand and the labels are printed on premium Scandinavian produced paper. The label design draws inspiration from the baroque designs of the Dutch Golden Age and classical Dutch typography. The labels are therefore mainly based on typography and this reference to Dutch tradition shows through the consistent use of Dutch Type Library's DTL Fleischmann. The focus on type and the visual references to traditional book design gives the product a literary feel and enhances the historical aspect of the product. The focus on Dutch tradition also shows through the use of a traditional Dutch color palette; red, white, blue and orange, and through the use of a cross hatched illustration of the royal arms of the Netherlands, House of Orange-Nassau.
As the front labels are meant as a tribute to Dutch-Norwegian trade ties, the back labels, bottle caps and the bottle it self serves as a tribute to the proud building of Hollendergata and the architect Herman M. Backer. The bottle represents the building it self and all bottles are hand painted in the same color as the building. The dark green color found on these old buildings near the Oslo Fjord stands as a rough but still proud contrast to the beautiful labels. This rough contrast can also be seen on the aluminum bottle caps and the use of DIN 1451 Engschrift and Mittelschrift; classic street sign typefaces that can be found all around Oslo. On a more subtle and conceptual note the square label shapes represents the shape of the building and fact that Hollendergata is a corner block.
