A close collaboration between Crown bevcan for Europe and Middle East, Efes Georgia (part of Efes Breweries International) and graphic artist David matchavariani has brought an epic story to life in a series of limited edition drink cans for Georgia's leading beer brand: Natakhtari.
It is the poem 'The knight in the tiger's skin' from the XNUMXth century, by the medieval poet Shota Rustaveli. The story, sometimes referred to by Georgians as a second Bible, tells the story of Queen Tinatin, who orders her beloved Spaspet Avtandil to help Tariel, a gentleman she finds sobbing in panther skin. black, to rescue his beloved Nestan-Darejan from captivity and his kingdom from usurpers.
The series contains four carefully decorated cans that represent the protagonists of the poem and its main themes: wisdom, friendship, love and gender equality.
To achieve the highest precision and color accuracy required to recreate Matchavariani's illustrations and sophisticated details, Crown experts used their advanced, high-quality printing technology. The prepress team developed a proprietary methodology of color separation and dot cut techniques, and used all the functionality offered by high-quality laser-etched build plates to create the images. The cans were manufactured at Crown's plant in Turkey, where their printing experts ensured that designs were rendered accurately and ink film weights were precisely controlled.
Although apparently done in black and white, the printing process required the use of each of the eight available colors to effectively transfer all image gradations and shadows to the entire surface of the can. The reflectivity of the aluminum substrate was exploited with the help of transparent inks or substrate details. When combined with a matte varnish, the resulting subtle contrasts give the cans an elegant appearance.
In Europe, the original designs have already gained recognition; have won Gold in the Two-Piece Beverage Cans category of the 2020 Cans Awards and have come in first place in the Best Packaging Design / Brand category of the 2020 International Beverage Innovation Awards.
