Written by Emma Ralphs, Brand Strategist at Butterfly Cannon .

The design world is no stranger to collaboration. Whether it’s North Face x Gucci, evian x Balmain or even Burberry x Minecraft, collaborations get attention – hopefully for the right reasons. But we live in an age of social media overload, where consumers are drowning in content; a study from Microsoft a few years ago showed the human attention span had dropped to just eight seconds. Every day there are new releases, drops, special editions and limited editions, all vying for our attention. So, it’s not just about catching consumers’ attention but holding it and making it worth their time. Done right, artist collaborations can do both for your brand. 

An artist collaboration is more than a limited edition. It brings purpose and meaning to the collaboration through tangible links between the artist and the brand. It can elevate a product to the permanent status of art, becoming an object that people want to collect and keep. As art can move us, collaborations with the right intentions can bring attention to cultural issues.

Butterfly Cannon's work for Talisker Artist Cask with the artist Calum Innes

Procter & Gamble’s Olay Body Fearless Artist series is a collection of body washes specially crafted by a diverse team of women, that feature artwork by African American artist Avery Williamson. The campaign is part of the brand’s ongoing commitment to increase the representation of women of colour in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths). As well as increasing the visibility of products designed for women of colour. Williamson’s art celebrates and explores the narrative of Black women. Her vibrant designs for the limited edition collection bring her expression to a wider audience.

Art also allows us to tackle big subjects in a way that is playful and engaging whilst still feeling authentic. We recently worked with Stoli® Vodka on a limited edition that celebrates their commitment to freedom of expression and belief in everyone’s right to Equality, Kindness, Love and Peace. To show Stoli®’s very real commitment to these values in a way that didn’t feel preachy or overly worthy, we collaborated with award-winning artist, designer, and creative director Jason Naylor. Authentic, bold and optimistic, his art encourages others to “live life colourfully” and to be themselves – a perfect match for Stoli®’s brand DNA.

Stoli x Jason Naylor

But what about when a brand does the unexpected, something seemingly unmatched to its brand DNA? The luxury fashion world has had a long history of surprising artist collaborations, going back to a 1937 Vogue spread with Wallis Simpson wearing the iconic ‘Organza Dinner Dress with Painted Lobster’ created by Salvador Dalí. Contemporary collaborations include the Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami collection, Tracy Emin’s bags for Longchamp and the recent Tiffany collaboration featuring the signature eroded art of artist Daniel Arsham. The intention behind these collaborations may sometimes seem tenuous. But they get attention, often gaining icon status. And they indicate a consumer willingness to allow brands to move out of their comfort zones, reach new consumers, expand their overall brand reach, as well as garnering attention. 

Regardless of the intention behind the collaboration, just like a piece of art, each artist collaboration is unique. Simply copying and pasting the artist’s work onto the pack is just not an option. Crucial to the success of every artist collaboration is working together from the outset. 

Johnnie Walker Blue Label x Luke Halls

With our work for Johnnie Walker for their Blue Label Future Cities of the Future 2220 collection, it was a case of collaboration in the truest sense – a back-and-forth process to ensure every party’s vision was translated faithfully onto the pack. Johnnie Walker wanted to create a truly disruptive limited edition range that lived up to their pioneering ‘Keep Walking’ spirit. We needed an equally boundary-pushing creative to match, so we selected and commissioned the forward-thinking creative visionary, Luke Halls - a multidisciplinary artist renowned for his studio’s visionary work in music, opera, theatre, art, dance and live performance. Our co-created bottle designs and comms designs for the collection wrapped the iconic Blue Label bottle in hyper-real, digital illustrations that invite consumers into a provocative utopian vision of world cities 200 years from now. Beloved landmarks stand among futuristic skyscapes that explore themes of geoengineering, AI empowerment and physics-defying technologies, reimagining the limits of what’s possible when we work together. The artworks were then taken off-pack in a series of immersive installations and digital activations, going beyond standard whisky category channels to capture the attention of luxury and culture commentators. 

Johnnie Walker Blue Label x Luke Halls

Speaking of digital art, the whole emerging scene around NFTs and the creation of legitimate digital or ‘new media’ art is gaining traction rapidly. Translating digital art into a real-world physical experience such as packaging, in a meaningful way, is throwing up some amazing opportunities and interesting challenges. With the current trajectory of consumer and brand interest, it can lead to physical packaging having a virtual presence in the Metaverse – becoming an NFT in its own right. 

Digital or physical, an artist collaboration can produce something meaningful, memorable and distinctive, beyond ‘just’ design. It is not to say that design alone is meaningless; design is about problem-solving; it is made with intention, while art is about self-expression, it moves you and doesn’t need explanation. So, when brought together, they reach a new dimension of cultural presence.

In short, artist collaborations are a way of telling your brand’s story, beautifully and powerfully. Done right, they give both the brand and the artist new audiences and cultural relevancy. It’s a win-win situation."

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