INTO THE WILD

Vårgård's project stands out. Not only in what it contains, but also in how it was created. Inspired by the wild Swedish landscape, deeply rooted in the story of place, agricultural tradition and craft around the Swedish town of the same name. From the beginning, more of a quest than a project. A journey into the wilderness.

We designed the whole cover ourselves - without a graphic studio, without templates. Just us and the brand. Three vessels, three stories. Hidden in a design that gives nothing away at first glance. Like layered camouflage in nature itself. Only before the real thing does the inner world unfold: three precisely seated boxes, each with its own wooden interior. Thought out in detail. Completely by hand.

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The opportunity to be part of a project from the very beginning and work directly with the client is rare. But it holds the greatest potential to create something truly exceptional - because the direct client-idea-production line allows you to go to the core. And the result is powerful. That was the case here, when we worked directly with Japan Tobacco International, one of the three largest tobacco companies in the world.

Specifically, it was the Nordic Snus brand and the product Vårgårda, an artisanal version of chewing tobacco produced in the town of the same name in the vast Swedish region of Västra Götaland, where you can find both industrial centres like Göteborg and almost untouched nature. And with the Vårgårda project, we really entered the wilderness - the client wanted 7,000 collector boxes, each with three boxes of chewing tobacco. The main goal, of course, was to provide a memorable unboxing experience, plus to underline the brand's philosophy through material, design and graphic details.

We therefore designed a combined, coated etui construction with a wooden interior. When the lid is removed, a four-part panel in height is revealed, which when opened reveals three smaller boxes one above the other. These further rotate around the base, revealing three circular cartridges containing the tobacco itself, precisely seated in a wooden bed. All are movable, yet firmly glued into the supporting platform.

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The construction, materials and graphic details designed by colleagues Pelle and Robert created a perfect harmony. The result is a box that is not "flashy", but on the contrary, exactly in the spirit of the brand - raw, natural, honest. The production had to showcase the best, without any pretentious effects. This is, after all, the approach that our colleague Pelle advocates in general. A project manager with commercial talent and vast experience that allows him to guide the entire team and client through a challenging process, while maintaining his typically honest "no bullshit pitches" style. Pelle, by the way, is right at home in the wilderness. When the production is quiet, he gets on his Harley-Davidson and heads to a hard rock festival, which our Czech workshop is practically on the doorstep.

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There was talk of a coated construction. For the Vårgårda box we chose the subtle green paper Lessebo Moss Green. In addition, we placed a print of the contours of the Swedish landscape on the inside of the lid. Other graphic elements were handled with screen printing and subtle embossing with Foilco foils. The visual dominance of the design, however, is at first glance the three deep blind prints on the sides of the lid. Despite the large format, they are perfectly crisp, a challenge that our colleague Jaromir met brilliantly. Moreover, he took care of the project throughout the entire production, including the special technological stages. It was no walk in the park. Just to glue the boxes into the boards in such a way that they could bear the weight of the wood and the product without deformation, and the moving segments fulfilled their function in every single version despite the huge load, was a truly fierce task. Thanks to Jaromir, it was done!

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A separate chapter was the design of wooden interiors. The basis was beech plywood, milled to the exact shape of the vessels - but that was the easy part. It was the surface finish that was the tricky part. There are, of course, many options - varnishes, stains, paints, oils. But none of them seemed "right" to us. Some surfaces looked artificial, others had an unnatural sheen or retained an unpleasant smell.

At Hässlers, however, we take extra care in the choice of materials used because they have a huge impact on the result. So it took a while, but we finally found the right one - Odie's Oil from Tallahassee, Florida. A natural oil, applied in a very fine layer and by hand, which beautifully rendered the texture of the wood. The oil also leaves a light, pleasant scent that comes out of the boxes for weeks after production. Odie's Oil, by the way, is a theme in itself - a fusion of honest American craftsmanship and a love of the woods, the woodworkers say. It was the perfect solution for this project.

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The Vårgårda project has once again shown us that there are no shortcuts. Just like in the untamed wilderness, where one misstep can mean the end of an adventure and the beginning of a nightmare. Everything was extremely challenging. Seven thousand series. From design to the last piece. Attention to detail. In a time stretched like a string. We hit rock bottom. But that's the way it should be.

Because you can't bypass the wilderness - you have to go straight through it.