Developed from Photography: Pop Top Six Pack

A few months ago, we learned that photographer Barry Rosenthal creates his extraordinary images of everyday objects right here in the Brooklyn Army Terminal—in a studio just a short jaunt from our very own door. As fans of his work, we couldn’t wait to collaborate with him. Then we saw his thought-provoking “Found in Nature” collection, and we knew that we’d found the perfect art for our latest in-house design, the Pop Top Six Pack glasses.

“I really admire Barry’s work, so it was fun to work with his photo to translate it into a design for glassware. What I love most about this photo is the composition—the way he artfully arranged the pop tops to create a pattern.” —Sarah Stenseng, Senior Product Development Associate

We’re fascinated with Rosenthal’s photographs of found collections, because even though the objects he shoots were once discarded, he presents them as uniquely beautiful treasures. The photos tell stories through their subject matter and composition. By taking bits of the past and bringing them into the present, Rosenthal creates something timeless. Our goal was to translate this timeless quality to a product that can be used every day, but also stands out as something special.

The original photograph, Pop Tops, captures an arrangement of meticulously placed pop tabs the artist collected from the parking lot of Orchard Beach in Bronx, NY. It tells the story of the approximately 475 billion aluminum cans produced worldwide each year—cans that don’t easily break down in nature, and can take centuries to decompose.

Some of the tabs pictured date back to the ‘60s and ‘70s, so their unique shapes add unexpected variation to the composition. The tabs also show their age through weathering in Rosenthal’s unaltered piece.

With Pop Art in mind, our Product Development Team collaborated with Rosenthal to transform Pop Tops into a new design that celebrates his photography and is infused with a bit of our personality. We started by editing the original photo to remove the natural color and accentuate the silhouettes of the tabs. Next, we carefully extended the pattern to fit completely around the can-shaped glass without interfering with the layout as it was intended.

After perfecting the pattern, bright colors were added to play up the Pop Art aspect of the design. Each glass in the set of six is a Pantone color chosen to stand out and show off the pop tab print. As a finishing touch, each glass is complete with Barry Rosenthal’s signature.

We love the way the final product turned out, and we think you’ll love it too. The Pop Art Six Pack is available now, and we’re looking forward to more exciting collaborative projects to come!