partnership project

How can we portray the world of cognac without a glass bottle?

Partner: RÉMY MARTIN

Year: 2021

Sector: Food and Beverage

PROJECT CATEGORIES: PACKAGING, PRODUCT DESIGN, EXPERIENCE DESIGN

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As part of a partnership with Rémy Martin, students were invited to project themselves into the brand's future and imagine what cognac could become ten years from now. Starting from a reflection on the product's life cycle once it leaves the barrels, the project explores new ways to consume, serve, and share cognac. The challenge was notably to evolve the traditional codes of this universe in order to offer a more contemporary, sustainable, and personalized experience aligned with new generations of consumers.

The reflection was built around a central question: how can Rémy Martin shake up the codes of cognac consumption while offering customers a truly rewarding experience? 

The students then identified three levers for innovation: rethinking tasting, imagining a new consumption ritual, and questioning the social dimension of cognac. This approach led them to see the product not merely as a drink, but as the starting point for a broader experience.

The first concept, Le Cognac Perlé, proposes transforming cognac into small pearls wrapped in an algae-based membrane. This new form makes it possible to explore different modes of consumption, whether neat, in cocktails, or over ice. The membrane thus becomes an alternative to the traditional container and opens up a reflection on a more sustainable approach to consumption. The packaging supports this transformation through a more contemporary universe designed to renew the image of cognac for a younger audience.

With L’Éclat, the students then focus on the tasting ritual. This glass container, designed to hold the cognac pearls, incorporates a luminous rim that reveals their amber color. Service becomes a true staging: opening the container, picking up the pearls one by one with tongs, then placing them in the glass. Through this gesture, the project reintroduces a ceremonial dimension into consumption while proposing a more contemporary, elegant, and participatory ritual.

Finally, L’Envolée transposes this experience to the scale of consumption venues. This steel structure places the cognac at height and brings it into the light. A luminous line surrounds the table with a veil visible from a distance, while creating a sense of intimacy for the people sharing it. Cognac thus becomes a true marker in space: its consumption is made visible and contributes to the social identity of the moment.

Through these three proposals, the students imagine a new Rémy Martin experience, from the transformation of the product to that of the ritual and its social environment. The project does not simply seek to renew the bottle or the object, but to question all the gestures and uses associated with cognac in order to bring forth a ritual that is contemporary, sensory, and experiential.

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