Snåsa Natural Mineral Water

When we were approached by the Snåsa Water Source in the of fall of 2014 there was only a wooden shed covering a pipe in the middle of a thick norwegian forest. The brief was to create a new bottle design addressing a new sense of luxury. 
Water is the most humble of all drinks and the source of life itself. We wanted the bottle and brand design to be emblematic of a growing sensibility towards our natural habitat.
The Snåsa municipality counts about 2.000 people surrounded by more than 2.500 lakes where the Sami culture have been living for centuries. The Sami are the only indigenous people of Scandinavia who live in a symbiotic relationship to nature. 
We created a custom made bottle shape that is both archetypal and timeless; a vessel resembling the archaic shape of the nomadic tent. The bottle becomes an integral part of the branding, concentrating the identity elements on the conic neck. The runic tree-looking symbol is a ligature of runic pictograms spelling SNÅSA. Inspired by an artisanal glass technique of merging two shapes of coloured glass together (called incalmo) the object conveys both a contemporary and archaic formal language. 
The economy of colours and design elements emphasises an austere but iconic expression and the combination of spray decor and silkscreen comes to life through a vivid play of refractions on the base of the shape once filled with water. 
In an attempt to change the wording commonly used in the category we engaged a novelist in writing a poem about water. A passage of the poem is written on the back of each bottle.