Where to find stock bottles?

Hello All,

I’m a student, working on a liquor packaging redesign, and was wondering if there’s some catalog of bottles in production I could source from. The liquor is a mid/bottom-shelf brand, so for the sake of realism I’d like to avoid doing a custom bottle.
However, I’d also like to avoid having something that’s identical to the brand next to it. Is there a middle ground?

A few minutes googling bottle suppliers should provide you with something you are looking for :wink:

There are plenty of stock bottle sites online. Give it a google.

Are you an ID? If so thus may be frowned upon given that your prof is probably looking for you to design the bottle. This is nothing more than an exercise in form and branding. If done properly can still be cost effective and make you distinctive.

J

Thanks for the replies! I am an ID student, but this is a portfolio piece, so no professor requirements. Trying to round out my ID projects with some branding/graphics.

I really would prefer to do a custom bottle. I just wonder if there’s more value in showing respect for cost, or creating a vessel that works holistically with the labeling. PackageID, which would you rather see in a portfolio?

Damien,


I would not only prefer but expect some bottle work in your portfolio. Going for a stock option is taking the easy way out. Look at the brand, communication, and design a simple cost effective solution. If you don’t have a good understanding of bottle forming, research it.

You have to remember that you are going to be hired as an ID, not a GD. This means that you need to show a good understanding of branding and graphics, but you are not going to be hired to do that. A better direction for a project like this is to show your understanding of the brand and how you translate that into form. What are the structural elements of the package that makes you brand distinctive? Are there simple embellishments? Ho do you stand apart? I feel this type of exercise will take a project like this from a throw away project to one that will make you stand out.

J

Awesome, thanks very much for the advice. This really clarifies things for me.

If you want to get a nice photoreal outcome without doing the cad hard yards, grab a nice high-res bottle of something similar to what you’re after and photoshop the shit out of it.