Client summary

Park Sheraton, owned by the Indian conglomerate ITC, takes pride in being one of the oldest and finest hotels in Chennai. Apart from its distinguished surroundings, it is a long-standing iconic landmark in the city. And Absolut Vodka is one of the most sought after brands at nightclub bars in plush hotels. Smitten in a collaborative effort with SNA has flaunted the brand of this Swedish beverage from the French group Pernod Ricard in a smarter way than usual at the counter of Dublin bar in Park Sheraton.

Prime purpose

The main purpose of branding the Dublin nightclub bar counter was to direct traffic away from the main counters at Dublin for shots and cocktails. Smitten in association with SNA developed the design solutions to work with the dynamic environment of the bar while the overall theme stays within the brand guidelines of Absolut Vodka.

Copy and design

The copy gave the display a unique identity and tied it in with the nightclub’s name ‘Dublin’ while advertising or promoting the brand’s offering and communicating the purpose of the counter. So the idea was to give an identity to the display itself, letting it be the core message and that core message acted as a more subliminal brand message. In this case, the purpose of the display was to act as a shot counter and this took the form of an identity for the space with the brand name built into the message.

Material and artwork

Smitten and SNA built the design using circles, a form that is similar to the lights in a club. The design included iconic forms of an Absolut Vodka bottle and a martini glass – simple shapes that can be built with a minimalistic use of circles and still stand out in a crowded night club. The design was printed on a 3M laser-cut sticker and mounted on glass for a backlit effect that shone through the circles and changed with washes of light.

The treatment inducted the design into the nightclub’s setting, allowing for the branding of the display to become a part of the larger environment itself. The creative was made on a CNC routed 3M sticker and the glass was a 12 mm pre-existing toughened glass. The back-lighting was created with LED panel that changed colour according to the programmed fed into it.

Smitten and Siddharth Ninan Architecture (SNA) Smitten is a creative communication firm and graphic design studio with offices in Madras, Mumbai, New York and Dubai. Its founder and creative director Smita Rajgopal shuffles her time between all four studios overseeing operations and directing creative. The company aims to create intriguing work that helps their clients stand out in their spaces. The current creative team of Smitten comprises 14 well-experienced professionals, including a cat named FM who mans the desk sleeping, yet contributes as team mascot. Apart from Park Sheraton and Absolut Vodka, some of Smitten’s clients include Diageo, Unilever, Mattel, Funskool, Panasonic, Logitech, Maxell, Ashok Leyland, Taj and SD Corp. An updated portfolio of their work can be seen on www.smittennewyork.com. Siddharth Ninan Architecture (SNA) is an architectural firm based in Chennai. Team SNA is committed to architecture and designs that reflect both concept and context. This firm is known for design ideas and solutions that are created through varying parameters of human need, environmental influence, value creation, science and art. Some of their landmark projects/clients they have so far been associated include Ticel Park, Saksin, KFJ, Sterling Music and home interiors of Dr Vijayalakshmi Acharya.