“Male” Scotch seeking female pulls design award

A whisky bottle design covered in singles ads and targeted at women has won a top design prize.

Student Melissa Preston won a prestigious D&AD student award for her efforts to feminise whisky. Called “WLTM”, the wine-shaped bottle of Scotch is a “man seeking a woman” and wrapped in a newspaper lonely hearts page, which on closer inspection, carries the tasting notes.

The Edinburgh design student, who is fond of a wee dram, told the Scotsman on Sunday: “I really enjoy whisky but it is a drink steeped in male connotations.”

Melissa, 22, set out her cheeky rationale on her website; turning away from Scottish imagery and heading straight for humour in order to “connect with the female consumer and make the male-dominant drink more vulnerable in looking for the love of a woman.”

As part of her prize, Melissa is off to do a placement at a London design agency.

And the packaging design now would like to meet a producer to fill the bottle.