No sleep till Brookyn
gets a better bottle

by Eimear Lynch

Brooklyn is not known for being a shy sort of place, which is why it's no surprise that perfumer Bond No. 9 is getting flack for its latest fragrance, released last month, that's supposed to rep New York's most outspoken borough. It's not the cardamom-meets-cedarwood scent that's the problem; the graffiti-emblazoned bottle is what goaded sweet-smelling Brooklynites into demanding a bottle design competition from the NY perfumery.

Here's the sitch:
* Create your design to fit within the outline of the Bond No. 9 superstar flacon and to include the company's circular "token" logo. (Read after the jump for a copy of the outline.)          
* Inspiration can come from anywhere in Brooklyn--DUMBO, Park Slope, Flatbush, Canarsie, Midwood, Bay Ridge, et al.--or from the very idea of Brooklyn. Go for any style, figurative or abstract
* Any medium is fair game: oil, acrylic, watercolor, house paint, pastel, crayon, Magic Marker, makeup--even a ballpoint pen or pencil will do.    
* Completed designs should be submitted to contactus@bondno9.com or Bond No. 9, 9 Bond Street, New York, NY 10012 by March 31, 2009.
* Note: The competition doesn't start until this Sunday, March 1, so you won't see any information on Bond's Web site before then.

After two winners are chosen in early April, the designs will be sent to get scented (couldn't resist). And artists, whose names will be displayed on the bottles, had better want to smell like BK, since both will receive one bottle of the fragrance per month for a year.