Share a Coke — Personalized Bottles

Overview

A large-scale personalization workflow that converts individual names into production-ready Coca-Cola bottle labels while preserving the integrity of the iconic ribbon, typography, and brand hierarchy.

This work continues my long involvement with Coca-Cola personalization initiatives, including the original Share a Coke (2011) campaign and Stay Extraordinary – Millions of One-of-a-Kind Bottles (2014).

In the 2025 relaunch of Share a Coke, I supported the team at Fortis in bringing the Share a Coke Personalized Bottles website to life, enabling consumers to order a bottle customized with their own name.

Business challenge

Scale personalization to millions of possible names while preserving brand consistency, typography balance, and visual harmony with the Coca-Cola ribbon.

While popular names may appear on retail bottles, the personalization platform needed to support any name, including uncommon names with varying letter shapes and lengths.

Solution

• Developed a rule-based typographic system using HP Spark
• Ensured each name integrates gracefully with the Coca-Cola ribbon
• Designed rules to handle descenders, right-tailed letters, and complex character combinations
• Built automated composition capable of producing high-volume, production-ready label artwork

The system dynamically adapts layout, spacing, and typography so that every name maintains the visual balance of the Coca-Cola brand.

Impact

Enabled consumers to celebrate their individuality by ordering personalized Coca-Cola bottles while maintaining strict brand quality and production reliability.

The project demonstrates how creative generative rules can transform a simple idea—putting a name on a bottle—into a scalable personalization platform that reconnects consumers with the brand through shared moments.