A couple of times I got to hear something like: “I don’t want to spend money on bottles, for me it is only about the whisky”.
Or, “will an initiative like WW Whisky Design Awards not result in even more excessive and more expensive packagings”.

Well, regarding the latter, although I see that as a complement, I don’t think the influence of this Contest, will give produces the slightest reason to change anything.

Regarding the first above mentioned position, that I can only respect, and I want to make two statements about it.

• First. I think that enjoying a Whisky, and actually most drinks or food, starts with the eye and what appeals to you. Whether you like to open a wooden chest to take out a crystal decanter and place it on the included stand, or you fancy a simple designed bottle with a nostalgic look and without even a carton box, that is very personal.
• Second. To whatever category you belong, you can (and should) let your vote count.
  There is a whole range of very different bottle designs, from ultimately simple to very distinct and from classical and traditional to modern and contemporary.
  So if you are against “expensive” packaging and you like a simple and/or low cost bottle then give that your vote.

The (final) voting round will be held using a Poll for each category. Every member is allowed to cast only one vote per category. That is the one you want to win the category award.

Prior to voting you need to rate the bottles and objects of you preference, otherwise these may not at all show up in the final election. If the bottle you most like is not nominated, I urge you to do so prior to closure of the nomination period.

The process of rating a bottle, packaging or label-series is a subjective one. With that being said, we tag the nominations with stars. This allows you to express your feeling of how strong you perceive the quality and characteristics of a certain object. The thought process behind your star ratings could go something like below.

Criteria you should take into consideration are:

• Aesthetics, craft skills (take into consideration ranges)
• Ergonomic, inspiration, insight
• Innovation, breakthrough in category, confidence (perhaps courage and risk in the context of time), usability or even re-usability
• Originality and uniqueness, and perhaps traditional value

	Not giving a rating to an object will work in favour of the majority because you will not have any influence on the average rating. It is better to give a low rating to a bottle you dis- or don’t like, for whatever reason, then to give no rating.
	You don’t consider the object a high quality or perhaps too high of a quality. You may try to disqualify it with a low rating.
	The object is fundamentally okay. This usually means you found something appealing about it but it doesn’t resonate. It might be that one element is strong but another is particularly weak. This isn’t a “bad” rating, but not a good one either.
	An object with three stars needs to be strong in at least some elements. Show character or tradition. Be practical, appealing or unique in some aspects.
	Four stars is reserved for those objects with all of the essential elements and it left its mark in some way. These are the bottles you talk about with friends. Fascinating  and often want to haves.
	To get five stars an object has to have a combination of characters, a style that speaks and some form of uniqueness. A masterpiece. You should rarely award 5 stars to an object as this is reserved for best of the bests.

See the Contest time-line on the “How it works” page for these details.