According to Global Newswire, the U.S. hard seltzer market could expect a compound annual growth rate of over 20% from now until 2030, a forecast driven by consumers in all demographics looking for a lighter, lower-calorie boozy option.
Still, while the hard seltzer industry is booming in America, it hasn’t quite caught on the same way in Italy.
Roy’s, however, is working to open Italy up to hard seltzer beverages. “Our client is introducing this trend in Italy with their top-quality fruity recipe crafted from Italian ingredients, and asked us to design a fresh and premium hard seltzer but more locally rooted, to be served in some of the finest Italian locales,” shares Andrea Mastroluca, associate creative director of Auge.
The first piece of designing the packaging began with naming the brand. Ultimately, Auge landed on an open club concept, one that welcomes people to relax outdoors on a sunny day with an aperitivo in hand. Except this time, the aperitivo is boozy bubbles. Accordingly, each label gets designed to be a theoretical membership card to Roy’s Club, with each of the 50,000 produced bottles individually numbered on the label.
The glass bottle is contemporary but follows genuine Italian aesthetic cues. “We had no choice on the glass bottle model, so colors and typography were the main design drivers; we found inspiration in real vintage membership cards and imagery of some of the most famous Italian clubs from the past,” mentions Mastroluca.
The custom script typeface is elegantly whimsical, finding balance in the weight of the downstroke and the thin daintiness of the upstroke. Plus, the calligraphy-inspired font pairs beautifully with the serif and sans serif secondary type, creating a playfully driven design, especially on the bottle neck.
“This was the part we loved the most, crafting typography in every detail, from the custom logotype to even the legal texts of the neck label, to get those vibes in a bold and colorful design with a unique allure,” Mastroluca continues.
While the packaging speaks for itself, the product imagery for Roy’s beautifully articulates the sunny disposition that the brand exudes. “Working with a great photographer such as Maurizio Di Iorio added an amazing final touch to the project,” Mastroluca says. “With his retro, colorful style, clean and sophisticated composition, and bright and sunny lighting, he was the perfect choice to express Roy’s personality and bring everything to a higher level.”
Roy’s and its packaging system epitomizes the sparkling nature of the beverage in an Italian but subdued way. While the goal of the design is to mimic that of an open club concept, the packaging doesn’t feel like it’s trying to fill a void. Roy’s isn’t trying to replace Italy’s favorite aperitivo—it just gives Italian consumers a new category to explore.
