Amazing how much influence design has in our expectations of what’s behind the packaging. It’s only when someone challenges those expectations that we realise how important design is.

Michael Young has designed a genre breaking whisky bottle for Japanese brand Nikka. It’s a far cry from what we would instinctively expect a whisky bottle to look like. The design of whisky bottles almost without fail emphasises the heritage of whisky making and you can always see the liquid in the bottle.

Young’s design by contrast has left no traditional element untouched, it’s black, contemporary and self-consciously different. It’s simplicity is most striking and at least initially you have no idea what’s in the bottle – you could even be forgiven for thinking it was vodka. So a bit risky perhaps but the cool factor is massive with this design and you can see it appealing to a new generation of whisky drinker.

The same is true for much of technological design – coming up with a simple but radical change in design can make all the difference.