In a fun interview, brand manager Jóhannes Páll Sigurðarson and designer Finnur Malmquist at ENNEMM tell the story and redesign of Egils Pilsner, one of the oldest beverage brands in Iceland!

It is rare for consumer products to live a good life for more than a century and their popularity to show no signs of waning. That is the case with Egils Pilsner, which recently saw the packaging of this popular light beer changed for the first time in over 20 years.

It was in 1916 that Egils Pilsner was first produced and the light beer has been on sale at Ölgerðinn ever since, or for 109 years. When King Christian X of Denmark visited Iceland in 1926, it is said that the king and his entourage were introduced to Egils Pilsner and had a good time. As a result, Ölgerðin was named a “royal brewery” by the king himself and gained the right to call itself such. The crown in Ölgerðin’s logo is a reference to this.

Egils Pilsner’s new packaging has caught the attention of fans of the drink. But why change this classic design?

“We wanted to honor the history of this remarkable light beer. It is extremely rare for consumer products to survive for more than a century like Egils Pilsner, which is not only the oldest Icelandic light beer but also the best-selling,” says Jóhannes Páll Sigurðarson, Brand Manager of Egils Pilsner.

"The design history of Ölgerðinn and other Icelandic consumer products is very interesting and it is fun to reflect on the development of the appearance of products such as Egils products. However, it could be better documented and it would be a worthy project to capture the design history and give it a proper account.

When we participated in the film projects Verbúðinn and Vigdís with Vesturport, we put a lot of work into researching the periods covered there, and that work was used to some extent in this design.

It is always fun and interesting to get involved in product and packaging development from the past and approach the ideas that were going on at the time," says Jóhannes Páll.

Designer Finnur Malmquist at Ennemm advertising agency was responsible for redesigning the appearance.

“There were certain design elements that had accompanied the story that we wanted to revive. For example, the font, which was updated in line with the previous design and written in this characteristic arch. Then there are graphic elements such as the crown, which refers to the visit of King Christian X of Denmark, and also the drawn hops and barley, which were redrawn from old tickets.”