Design Case Study | Amber Noir

December 15, 2021

Product designer Will Gibbons has created Amber Noir, a versatile scent with complimentary forms. Find out more about this pack in our exclusive design case study below.

Tell us a bit about the brand – its heritage, its story, and its markets – and the brief for this project. How does the design express the brand’s values?

Amber Noir is a versatile scent, masculine but refined. Hints of peat moss, wood fire and oak barrels laced with sage, cedar, eucalyptus and black currant offer a smooth, complex experience. It’s strong, but well-mannered, gets stuff done, but cleans up well.

The cologne container features two distinct, complimentary forms. At the core is an organic glass form which resembles a piece of Amber. The core is encapsulated by and suspended from a 5-sided glass box. The core represents rugged, raw, passion. The box represents restraint, structure and discipline. The transparency of the box allows these two sets of traits to coexist in a complementary fashion.

What challenges did you need to overcome to manufacture this pack?

When light transmits through a material such as glass and is refracted, it’s common to see wispy, focused beams of light reflected on an underlying surface. These focused beams of light are called caustics. One of Will’s goals was to celebrate light and material properties through caustics. The organic core with the amber coloured cologne creates the caustics that look like a flame, while the form of the box with its subtle textures is responsible for the white caustics.

What is innovative or unusual about the pack?

Amber Noir is luxurious without being pretentious. A premium scent calls for memorable packaging. The oiled bronze spritzer and cap finish pay respect to the hard.