Fabulous Design, Illustration and Packaging by Veronika Kieneke for the GÖRTZ brand.

Hamburg-based creative and design agency Gürtlerbachmann has created many beautiful in-store promotional pieces for German shoe store chain GÖRTZ. From designing sock puppets and wearable bags to promote their children's section to beautiful packaging for wool socks. Such a slew of well-designed pieces and all of the art direction and concepts were created by the talented (now freelance) illustrator and designer Veronika Kieneke. Every in-store promotional piece and package design in this post has received at least one design award - and in most cases multiple awards.

Dioramas made from Shoe Boxes as in-store display:










Packaging for fashion brand CLOSED Wool Socks:








Wearable bags for Children's shoes:









Sock Puppets to Promote Their Children's Section:





images courtesy of the designer and Gürtlerbachmann

See more of the talented Veronika Kieneke's work here

Highland Park 50 Year Old Whisky Limited Edition Bottle Wins 2012 Design Award.

Recently, the stunning, and extraordinarily expensive (just over $15,000) , limited edition bottle designed for Highland Park’s oldest ever island single malt whisky – Highland Park 50 year old, won the award for Best Design at the World Whiskies Award 2012. What's inside the stunning bottle was also named Best Single Malt Scotch 41 Years and Over (Multiple Casks), at the 2012 Whisky Bible Awards.

Bottle front:

Bottle back:


With only 275 bottles produced, this prestigious edition has become an exclusive collectors’ item. Each bottle is unique, encased in an intricate ‘net cage’ of hand-crafted ornate sterling silver created by Scottish jewellery designer Maeve Gillies, who took inspiration from Orkney’s elemental forces. Maeve’s bottle design celebrates Orkney: its seas, island life, wild elements, incredible natural light and the passage of time.

The "50" has black enameling on the sterling silver and is subtly integrated into the silverwork:


Inspired by the wild and rugged natural elements of the Scottish island of Orkney, Maeve aimed to create a bottle that would visually communicate what made Highland Park unique without any words, as well as an object that was precious enough to be worthy of the oldest island single malt in the world.

The details are stamped into the sterling silver at the base on the back of the bottle:


A visitor to the beautiful Orkney islands since a child, Maeve conveyed a natural and nautical theme in her Sterling silver bottle, evoking ropes, twisted seaweed and a metal finish that looked like it could have been a very old and precious object, discovered washed up on the beach.


above: Silversmith and jeweler Maeve Gillies with her award-winning bottle design (photograph by hans offringa)

Set on the front is a disc of genuine Orcadian pink sandstone carved with Highland Park's logo, sourced from the original quarry that built the incredible 12th century St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall.


The St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall:


On the backside of the bottle, the medallion is replaced with a translucent glass cabochon:


Behind this, viewable through the glass when the whisky has been finished (although in the composited image below, the bottle is still full), is an ethereal silver replica of the beautiful rose window inside the Cathedral.


The actual Rosette Window in St. Magnus' Cathedral:


The bottle is presented in a hand-carved Scottish oak box, also shaped to feel worn by wild elements, and set with a silver and glass porthole, through which the Highland Park logo on the bottle inside can just be viewed.





The special edition of Highland Park 50 year old was initially launched at Harrods in London as a Limited Edition of 275 bottles for 10,000 GBP per bottle and is now available for purchase for at that same price: $15,811.00 USD or £10,000.00 (Size: 70cl 44.8% ABV) here

Modern Meyerhoffer Surfboard Wins Prestigious Design Award

above photo by Daniella Zalcman for NY Times

American Thomas Meyerhoffer has won Australia's 2010 International Design Award for his groundbreaking surfboard design.


above image courtesy of Quality Peoples

Evolution? Revolution? Future surfing solution? The Meyerhoffer is possibly the most radical design innovation in longboarding for a generation.

Maverick designer, Thomas Meyerhoffer, is renowned for his innovative product designs including the ground breaking eMate. His quest was to merge industrial design processes with his passion for surfing.

Using the natural world as an inspiration, “the resulting shape is organic and fluid which seems to fit the wave better. Instead of surfing the wave, the wave surfs you. The board integrates with the wave seamlessly. You become one with the wave.”


above: World Champion surfer Jen Smith on the Meyerhoffer board


above: the radical board design has an hourglass shape

The purpose? “The three main sequences of longboarding – turn, glide and nose riding – are pushed to a higher level. The shape with its different sections has been designed to give you something unique. The total experience is a board that is faster, turns better and delivers a higher level of surf experience”



All boards are constructed in SLX to ensure maximum responsiveness. We have glassed all boards with white tinted epoxy resin. They have 2 x 6oz on deck and 1 x 4oz bottom with a 6oz patch on the fin area. We give the boards the gloss polish finish and they come standard 6” or 8” Centre fin and FCS side fins.

Thomas describing his design:



Designer Cynthia Rowley collaborated with Meyerhoffer for these limited edition versions of the Meyerhoffer board.



Purchase the Cynthia Rowley Roxy Meyerhoffer boards here.

 Other examples of some custom Meyerhoffer boards:
   

The actual press release (with images added by me):
The Meyerhoffer Rides Away with The Australian International Design Award 2010
June 7th The most radical design innovation in longboarding for a generation - the Meyerhoffer Surfboard last night won a very prestigious Australian International Design Award! The Australian International Design Awards, a division of Standards Australia, is recognised by the Commonwealth Government and the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design [ICSID] as Australia's peak design assessment and promotion body, and for its important role in fostering a culture of design and innovation in Australia. The judges said the board was a ''major design innovation'' that would create ''global shockwaves''.

    
above: surfer Belinda Baker rides the Meyerhoffer

Manufactured by Global Surf Industries (GSI), this ultra-modern take on the traditional Longboard by world renowned industrial designer Thomas Meyerhoffer brought design excellence into the realm of the everyday surfer last year, increasing the ultimate experience. The groundbreaking design propelled surfing into mainstream consciousness around the world.

 
 above: surfer Michael Wallace rides the Meyerhoffer

Designer of this radical surfboard, Thomas Meyerhoffer, was "over the moon" about receiving the prestigious award. "To be recognised in a country where surf culture rules and is part of everyday life for so many people, is truly special", said Mr. Meyerhoffer.

 
above: Surfer Mark Kelly with the board, courtesy of Sydney's Daily Telegraph

"I owe many thanks to Mark Kelly of GSI for his vision and surfing skills. Almost two years ago now Mark tried a Meyerhoffer prototype and was convinced that he was surfing better than ever! Now because of Mark, the board is surfed and enjoyed by many surfers worldwide. I'm a proud winner of an Australian International Design Award, but I ultimately hope that the endorsement from the award will make more people to try the board - open up their minds and get a fuller experience on their next wave."

 
above: Surfer Grant Price on the Meyerhoffer board

Each section of the board is optimised for maximum performance, the design evolving into an incredibly complex shape with three different bottom contours that transitions smoothly into one other with its own purified purpose in an organic and seamlessly effective shape. Just like nature itself. The evolution of the Meyerhoffer has been a process of taking away more than adding to traditional forms, enabling Thomas a greater opportunity to shape the board. From the wide tail through a minimal waist and into a more classic nose, the design brings short board elements into a longer board to maximize speed and turning, provides paddling ease and high performance nose riding. Every element of the board provides the ability for a smooth transition from front to back.


 
above: surfer Mike Tabling rides the Meyerhoffer board

GSI'S Managing Director, Mark Kelly, was also in high spirits about being named the winner of the Australian International Design Award. "I am absolutely stoked that we have won this award", he said. "Surfboard design for years has been via fine tuning processes, some so small they can hardly be noticed. Thomas Meyerhoffer helped take surfboard design a giant leap forward". Evolution or revolution? "I think a bit of both. I am very proud to be part of this design and its launch into the marketplace around the world. The feedback has been great and this award tops it off. "Global Surf Industries is a company for recreational surfers, and I cannot wait to give every surfer out there the opportunity to ride this innovative piece of modern design," concluded Mr. Kelly. The Meyerhoffer surfboard is also one of 10 winners and finalists that will be part of a special exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum from July 3rd 2010.

 

Find a dealer for the Meyerhoffer Modern Surfboard.

 images courtesy of Thomas Meyerhoffer, Meyerhoffer Surfboards, Global Surf Industries, and other cited sources.