Alt Group strikes gold at Canes Design Lions

Auckland multidisciplinary design company, Alt Group, won a Gold Lion in the books category at the Cannes Design Lions 2010 last night with The Vigneron, a tribute to one of the pioneers of the New Zealand wine industry.

Alt Group also won a Silver Lion in the alcoholic drinks category with the Vigneron bottle – a Limited Edition series of 100 hand numbered magnums- which were created, with the book, to celebrate the life of Najib Corban, who died last year just days before reaching his 100th birthday.

Najib was the son of Corbans wine dynasty founders, Assid Abraham and Najibie Corban. Blind from the age of 15, Najib spent his entire working life on the family’s vineyard as a vigneron – a vineyard worker – before retiring at the ripe age of 73.

“The book was published as a testament to a life of physical hard work, determination and making do and getting by. His loss of sight certainly didn’t stop him having a full life,” said Alt Group director Ben Corban, who is Najib’s grandson.

Corban and fellow Alt Group director Dean Poole, led the design project to create the 100 special edition magnums and a book as a memento of Najib’s 100 years. The beautifully crafted hand bound book, designed to accompany each magnum, contains stunning black and white photographs of Najib’s tools, which were taken by renowned photographer, Alistair Guthrie. The images are complemented by a selection of Najib’s poems, taken from his collection, Footprints in the Sand, published in 1983.

The bottles, which won Silver, were dipped into blackboard paint, and then hand numbered – from 1 to 100 – in chalk, as a reference to the medium Najib used to notate his poetry.

“This project was a real labour of love for the studio. We are obsessed with both craft and content and it’s great to have that recognized. Gold and Silver Lions are a real honour,” said Corban.