On the heels of the recent ABSOLUT London release, the legendary vodka brand has launched another city-inspired bottle, which this time is dedicated to Turkey’s Istanbul. Designed by local Turkish artist Yigit Yazici, the new ABSOLUT Istanbul, which has no oriental touch and traditional sublime vignettes, but still pays tribute to the city’s iconic emblems, Galata Tower and the Istanbul strait of Bosphorus in vibrant colours.

Photo: ABSOLUT Istanbul label design, click to enlarge

Yigit Yazici, whose style was heavily influenced by Expressionism, Pop Art and the CoBRA movement, keeps to his artistic approaches and in this design employs the palette, which seems to fit Miami or Amsterdam better—colourful stripes, orange, violet, yellow, white, black and electric blue. On the front of the bottle, the label features the tower (pictured in the old book style) and a boat in black, onthe side it has got a stagecoach and a fish, and on the back the stripped background is ‘torn’ by the Bosphorus, which is pictured white.

In an interview, which has been translated and published on www.theartdossier.com, Yigit Yazici talks about his work and shares on what inspired him to create a new European city bottle for ABSOLUT. Here’s an extract where he tells about his project for the brand, telling about his starting point to design the ABSOLUT Istanbul bottle, “Istanbul is synthesis of different cultures and it never lost its importance since many ages. It is where Bosphorus joins Asia and Europe, a meeting point accommodating east and west at the same time. Istanbul has unique aspects; vegetation, fishes, etc. It was always the ‘favorite’ of different nations over the eras with endless stories. It inspired many painters, musicians, men of letters of various nationalities. I thought about all of these; a city having memories, colorful with its ‘cigerci,’ ‘Simitci,’ subject to many poems. Music resonating from Bosphorus villas, people going by boat in moonlight …. Istanbul is full of richness, one side looking to Black Sea and on the other side its unique Princess Islands, all full of memories. These were my inspirations.”

Read the full interview here.

Photo: ABSOLUT Istanbul poster