Stork with a cork in its beak
Although the products are always unique and unrepeatable thanks to the handmade production of the Rückl glassworks, they have all been united by one thing since the end of the 19th century – the image of a stork with a cork in its beak. The symbolism of the bird, which predicts a happy future and new births across cultures, is not accidental. The white feathered bird found its way into the emblem mainly thanks to intensive cooperation with pharmaceutical distributors, with whom the family glassworks from the Antonín Rückl and Sons portfolio established close cooperation as early as the 1870s.
The founder's son Antonín Rückl first expanded the existing range of products by producing glass containers for medicines, ointments and liquids at the Včelnička glassworks. The increased interest in specialized products throughout the country and especially in the north of the country even led him to the opportunity to establish a new glassworks in Skalica near Česká Lípa. The need to protect the high-quality glass containers produced by the Antonín Rückl and Sons family brand from competition on the market led the company to unify its visual identity and register a trademark in 1891. The glass bottle was chosen as the ideal representative of medical packaging, the long stopper which was often used to treat sore spots and, together with the stork, represented not only a symbol of protecting human health in the most poetic form, but also the family reciprocity of those who had represented this trademark for years.
The timeless symbol of the stork
In 2017, the Nižbor glassworks underwent major changes. With the new owner Martin Wichterle and the new artistic direction of Rony Plesl, a new logo was also created. The renowned Studio Najbrt took on the task, leaving its minimalist signature mark on the stork motif.
The logo redesign was motivated primarily by the desire to preserve the spirit and story of the original trademark from 1891, in which a stork opens a pharmacy bottle, while at the same time achieving current demands for maximum readability even at small sizes. The shape of the shield was also minimized, which was replaced by a more pleasant oval. Although the linear bird retained its elegant shapes and the stopper in its beak, the pharmacy glass bottle disappeared from the logo, just as it had once from its position as the company's main product. The symbolic part is supplemented only by the name and date, reminiscent of the deep roots of the Rückl family's glassmaking tradition. The chosen black and white color scheme refers to the color of the stork's wings. The stork hallmark thus remains a guarantee of the highest quality of Czech glass
About Studio Najbrt
Studio Najbrt is a leading Czech graphic design studio. Since 1994, it has been creating identities, books, posters, exhibitions, websites and applications for Czech and international clients. It has long-term cooperation with the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the Ambiente group, photographer Josef Koudelka, the cities of Prague, Ostrava and many others. Their work is characterized by a professional, distinctive and often playful approach, which has brought the studio many awards and attention from professional publications from all over the world.
“When I think of Studio Najbrt, the first thing that comes to mind is entertainment,” wrote design critic Rick Poynor in 2007, and no one has protested to this day.
