ARTIST-DESIGNED CHRISTMAS PAPER

This Christmas, Pigmentarium gifts will be wrapped in a winter portrait of Prague. The paper was designed by Kristýna Šťastová, a student of the Graphic Design and Visual Communication Studio at Prague’s Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design (UMPRUM). It offers Pigmentarium customers around the world a glimpse of the unique atmosphere of Prague at Christmas.

An original drawing. Long conversations with the artist. And wrapping paper born from many hours of working together. This is the world we continue to build around Pigmentarium fragrances. We first met Kristýna while working on a limited edition of Paradiso as part of a student competition at UMPRUM. Although she did not win, her distinctive visual language and ability to see familiar things from an unexpected perspective left a lasting impression on us. When the time came to commission the Christmas wrapping paper, she was our first choice.

Kristýna chose a quotation from St Augustine as the guiding thought behind her work, expressing the idea that when we act out of genuine, profound love, we are free to follow our own will. Across the sky above Prague runs the inscription DILIGE ET QUOD VIS FAC. “Love, and do what you will.” A sentiment entirely in keeping with the spirit of Pigmentarium. The illustration looks out over Prague from Palacký Bridge, with the Pigmentarium studio tucked behind an illuminated window on one of its banks. A closer look reveals Oratorio, our church-inspired fragrance, Pigmentarium founder Tomáš Ric with his dog Azan, the iconic track-lubricating tram that has become a familiar sight on the city’s streets, and even the pigeons we happen to love.

The project has resulted in 2,000 sheets of wrapping paper featuring a winter portrait of Prague. Designed for Pigmentarium’s online store, where purchases take place without face-to-face contact, the paper is our way of bringing a more personal touch to the experience. From 1 November, and for as long as stocks last, customers will be able to request that their perfumes, incense sticks and porcelain altars be wrapped in an illustration of the place where they are conceived, and in some cases, physically created, before being sent to destinations around the world.

Wishing everyone a beautiful, and joyful Christmas.