Package design has attracted in the last period more and more attention.
People in the advertising industry attach significant importance to package design because of its impact on purchasers.
Its presence at the crucial moment when the purchase is made and consumers’ high level of involvement when they actively scan packages in their decision making.
People tend to be fans of certain alcoholic beverages (let’s not say addicted) and any means must be used in order to influence the decision of buying a new product. The most interesting one is package design. If it’s looking good, it must taste the same, doesn’t it?
The alcoholic drinks industry is enjoying high investments manifested by their interest in creating attractive package designs to lure people in buying their products. Based on the economic idea that you can’t earn money without spending some, that looks like a wining strategy and, of course, it is.
Complicated or minimalistic, these package designs are a pleasure to look at to draw inspiration from them.
In this article you will see some of the best package design examples for alcoholic beverages.
Klar
Klar in German means ‘Clear’, Zurich Switzerland lies at 47 degrees latitude on the map. Klar 47 is distilled from only the finest organic ingredients. Imported from Zurich, Switzerland.
Harem Sultan
Harem Sultan is a premium wine brand that is only sold at duty free shops in Turkey targeting foreign tourists. The brief was to design a packaging that would create conversation on the table when people go back to their countries. Something that foreigners would love to buy not only as wine but as a “Special Souvenir from Turkey”.
Neige
Chez Valois, Montreal based branding & design agency, created special edition discovery gift set packaging for Neige Ice Ciders.
With its mirror-like backing, the set attracts the consumers attention. This one piece packaging, made with no glue has a complementary tasting note form slided in the back.
Mixed Emotions
The idea of this project is to sell emotions through a product. The designer selected a mix between a concoction and vodka.
The concoction is a fruit blend that contains emotions such as love, sadness, happiness, fear and anger. The Mixed Emotions cocktail evokes an emotion and changes your attitude according to your preference.
Sea Cider
Playful, colourful packaging for a UK-based cider company, Hearts Cider Makers.
Fusion Beer
“Young and trendy”. This is the idea which gave the designers a push to draw their first sketches.
As the upcoming product was to be gender mainstreaming, they faced a matter of some difficulty, for statistically men and women in Mongolia almost do not have numeral superiority in the beer consumption.
Balvenie Ambassador Case
A hand-crafted leather case for The Balvenie Ambassador to present the Balvenie story from barley to bottle.
The case contains bespoke boxes which are individually tooled to hold ears of barley, a miniature copper still, cask samples, miniature barrels and tasting bottles
Budgens
Harry Pearce and his team have been commissioned to redesign the complete own brand range for Budgens and Londis stores.
The own brand range has three levels, Good, Better, and Best, and many of the redesigned Good Value range have already hit the shelves with Pentagram’s designs for Good Value Jaffa Cakes and Good Value Assorted Crisps winning the Quality Food Awards 2009.
Balblair
This is a concept for the restyling of the Balblair Whisky bottle. The main goal was to give a taste of Scotland to the costumer, from the bottle to the taste of the whisky.
They wanted to create a mix of tradition and modernity, so they mixed old traditional materials such as cork and wool with some new hi-tech look materials like aluminum details.
Klein Constantia Grappa
Klein Constantia didn’t know what to do with the grape skins that were left over from the production of their award winning wines.
In the past they had fed the skins to their cows, but they decided to produce a limited edition grappa, as a gift to the people that were important to their business.
Brujeria
This is Brujeria (the Spanish word for witchcraft) from Misfits Wine Co. A Soul Retrieval Nostrum. Ancient arts and dark fruits forged through toil to respond to clichéd and lifeless marketing department wines. Formed whole in light and dark to strike fear into drones and hex the elitist wine types.
Inspiration draws from Latin witchcraft posters. This release from Misfits Wine Co has been created to stand out and tie into their ethos; the rejection of the conventional.
Lucifer’s Elixir
Lucifer’s Elixir is a self-promotional piece that I produced and handed out to colleagues and confidants. Each swing-top bottle included a vintage skeleton key and a booklet explaining symbology, numerology and other “secrets of the universe”.
It was meant to invoke an initiation into a secret society a la the Freemasons or Skull & Bones. What better to ponder the meaning of the universe than some nice bourbon whiskey!
Kraken Rum
The Kraken Black Spiced Rum has introduced 3-D labels designed by London based STRANGER & STRANGER. The 3D kraken will adorn the 750mL bottles and will be available for purchase online.
My World Wine
They created a series of hand drawn maps for this wine package design colored by aquarelle embracing each box, accompanied by a series of illustrations highlighting what is unique about each country.
Adirondack Whisky
Brand concept and packaging design for a fictional single malt whisky (spelled with no ‘e’, Scotch-style) and distillery based in upstate New York.
The bottle is tall and slim with broad shoulders; coupled with the contour lines used on the labels and the cylinder, it hints at the height and shape of the mountain range that it is surrounded by. Labels are set in muted brown and silver tones to highlight the strength of the whisky’s color.
The brand name ‘Adirondack’ is printed vertically on the bottle’s front, transposed over the rear label graphic, adding depth and movement. All facets of the packaging honor the geography of the area it comes from while still presenting the simple, classy image popular with younger consumers
Naked King
Margarita Mix
Breuckelen Distilling
Breuckelen Distilling is an artisan distillery located in Brooklyn, New York. They handcraft delicious gin from organic New York grains entirely within their Brooklyn location. Breuckelen is a tiny fraction of the size of typical distilleries but their production methods create products of the highest quality.
Votrys
A series of boxes that contain one, two and three wine bottles each. Each box can accept two different sizes/forms of bottles of the same capacity.
The three sizes are either combined together or separately and by stacking them a wine-rack is formed. Even a big wine-rack could be produced in this way.
The shape of the box was chosen because it is sympathetic to the shape of the bottle and it also looks like a grape from one side when stack. The box has a handle and can be carried like a bag without the need for additional packaging.
The use of Oak plywood as the main material was chosen because it makes references to the Oak barrels the wine matures in. The client logo appears on the box and on a label on the handle which also explains the concept and the way to reuse the box.
Kotton Beer
Beer for the hard working tough guy. With no doodles, gold platings, any insignificent items whatsoever. Tough as an army boot.
Jack Daniel’s
Down Under
Mercier
Pretty cylindrical packaging for this champagne’s 150th anniversary.
Torque
They created a packaging of locally distilled vodka for their clients to show them some other work they are capable of (outside of traditional print/web work).
The bottle design is based on their branding and overall look and feel. They have titled themselves as “Concept Mechanics”, which speaks to their handwork and conceptual thinking. The spring top is a metal spring that serves as a cap.
Gin Mare
The bottle design combines straight and curved forms with hints of blue and white that suggest a synthesis between sea and sky, water and foam.
A unique cap saw all the neck of the bottle thereby reinforcing its premium character. Mare Gin has been created with the highest quality botanical (Arbequina olive, thyme, rosemary and basil), selected in Mediterranean areas.
Made by hand in a still single, has a base of barley and distilled Premium macerated with each independently botanical ingredients to create a unique blending. A new generation of gins.
Black & Gold Elk
Black Elk is a premium vodka from the Finnish Lapland. The goal was to create a young looking and innovative brand. The shape of the bottle is simple but elegant and the graphics really modern style. Gold Elk is the ultra premium version of Black Elk
Bitter Sisters Cocktail Mixer
Auténtico Tequila Alacrán
Auténtico Tequila Alacrán (ATA) – Authentic Scorpion Tequila. This is not a brand or some product created by a transnational corporation.
Instead, it was made by a group of friends in Mexico City, who rebelled against the status quo and created this unconventionally pure white spirit concealed within a matte-black bottle.
The special and rubbery (some say velvety) “Soft Touch” finish is a unique texture, never before applied on a tequila bottle, or any other that we know of. The shape was inspired by a canteen crossed with a liquor flask and Its rugged skin makes it the ultimate urban trend. The tequila is absolutely delicious by the way
Bols
Bols 1575 Amsterdam (aka the inventors of gin and the oldest distillery brand in the world!) asked Mash to assist them in revamping their Bols Vodka Bottle.
The packaging needed to have respect for the heritage behind the Lucas Bols brand which has been around since clogs. Mash designed a series of classic and elegant bottles based on vintage French perfume packaging.
Dapper Beer
The Smiling Skull
The Smiling Skull cabernet sauvignon. A retail direct private label designed to compete with California wines that have a similar quirky yet dark look and feel. Utilizes clear varnish and metallic inks.
Zubrowka
Design suggestion for Polish Vodka brand Zubrówka. Taking the brands history and origin into the design context with a medicine twist.
Blink
Beetroot design group based in Thessaloniki, Greece came up with this outcome for the branding and bottle design of Blink sparkling wine.
The graphic design of the bottle is characterized by the stripes. This way and along with the small use of the logo the bottle itself is defining the brand, creating a strong identity sticking out among other bottles. It is positioned in bars and clubs targeting mostly younger ages
Crosser Non Vintage
Crosser Vintage launched 25 years ago and has established itself as a premium Australian Sparkling.
Lion Nathan approached War to develop a Crosser Non-Vintage label that retained the equity of the Vintage brand whilst positioning the Non-Vintage at a lower price point to capture the fast growing ‘everyday sparkling’ market.
The design retains everything synonymous with Crosser but through the use of colour and finishes clearly identifies its role in the Crosser family.
BYO
Drink tea when you want it and where you want it. Packaged in a custom designed pouch that slides into a purse or a back pocket, BYOT offers an easy way to enjoy loose leaf tea throughout the day. Each BYOT package includes ten servings of tea as well as biodegradable pouches that conveniently steep into a perfect cup.
12 Bridges Gin
12 Bridges Gin is a small batch, hand-crafted gin made in Portland, Oregon, a city of bridges. The concept of “bridge” is echoed throughout the design, including the metal label (pictured) on the front of the bottle.
Buddy Mulled Wine
As a seasonal greeting to clients and friends Buddy designed and sent bottles of spiced mulled wine.
Their Christmas wishes were pad printed matte silver directly onto the glass of the bottle, the design being suggestive of measuring jug graphics. The concept therefore, the more you drink the merrier the message.
Charles Le Chat
The Malcolm
The Malcolm represents the super premium product under the Magpie Estate Brand. This product needed to sit separately from the other wines in the range.
The logo type remains consistent as a secondary element, however the bottle design and printing methods depart from the other Magpie Estate wines.
A beautiful imported French bottle was chosen, the bird illustration and text details were screen printed. No paper labels were used, even the back label details are screen printed.
Longview
The label takes its form from a doiley which is a reference to the types of food that are typically consumed with this variety of wine.
The delicate pattern of the doiley creates a sense of elegance and quality that appeals to the target audience and visually sets the wine apart from the competition.
Pravda Vodka
This package looks and feels ultra clean and the all-white bottle would be sure to stand out on a shelf in a bar.
The Optimist
The Optimist is a self-promotional holiday wine bottle. Each year Siquis shows their clients how much they care by designing a custom wine bottle label just for them. The label is always created by a different designer in their creative department.
This year’s graphic was designed to play on “is the glass half empty or half full” concept. Obviously, once the recipient rotates the bottle to fill their glass, the glass on the label becomes half full.
El Paso Chile Co.
El Paso Chile Co. is well known for their boutique brands of salsas and marinades. They also have some of the best margarita and cocktail juice blends available on the market.
With CSA’s help in packaging, they invented a novel way to bring their cocktail flavors to a wider audience by selling glass martini shakers that contain the mixings for finished martinis – just add ice and alcohol.
Burn Cottage
Something we’ve been looking forward to for a long time, the Burn Cottage wines have been released. The labels, thick uncoated stock with the branding imagery wrapping around the imported French glass, mirroring the poster cut up business cards. Oh, and the wine is just as
tasty as the packaging
Helderberg Wijnmakerij
A new design the designers did did for a winery in Stellenbosch. The black is all high-build. Instead of filling the white space with a texture, they filled it with an embossed illustration of clouds above the mountain. Makes for an overall very visual and tactile design.
Hennessy V.S
Hennessy V.S Blending of Art celebrates the two as one, in a collaborative project that aligns the visually arresting with the sonically bold; the musically adventurous with the artistically free. An exclusive series of future thinking artworks that connect some of music’s most vibrant revolutionaries with visual artists and graphic designers that dance to the same beat.
Inspired by the Hennessy Artistry curation process, Hennessy has invited a posse of artists to express themselves around the iconic Hennessy V.S bottle with true creative freedom creating five new iconic bottle designs.
Blue Nectar No.1
Blue Nectar’s No. 1 is a limited edition ale designed by ourselves and brewed by one of their local brewery clients in the city of Derby, UK. The purpose of the ale was to produce a product that captures the essence of everything they do, creating compelling brands and putting them into beautiful packaging.
The self initiated brief required us to create a design that stood out from the current offering that is seen within the UK ales market, whilst making what is often perceived as a rather old fashioned product more contemporary.
Graham’s New Year Edition
Inspired by the upcoming Chinese New Year and the use of vibrant colors in the Asian culture, the Graham’s Port Asia New Year Edition packaging has been specially released to mark the celebration for this occasion.
Red, green and black were chosen to interpret: prosperity and happiness; harmony and balance; power and masculinity. These concepts are expressed through the detailing of the design in the wrought iron 1890 gate at the ‘Malvedos’ property in the Douro valley.
Lascala
New work from Spanish designer Eduardo del Fraile. If you’re new to Eduardo’s work be sure to check out some of his other amazing work we’ve showcased in the past.
Enigma
Sing the alphabet song, A B C D F, hang on something’s missing! Not anymore, Alpha Box and Dice have now released E (Enigma). Another letter in the ever increasing Alpha Box & Dice range of wines.
One day the whole alphabet will exist. If you have the complete collection you can sell up and retire to the Bahamas as this preschool lesson will become more collectable than Mark Rothko’s Grade 3 art-class drawing
Lakefront Brewery
Lakefront wanted a way to showcase their ever changing 22oz “Brewers Series” beers that they continually keep developing, which are normally sold one bottle at a time. With the Lakefront 88 (88oz of total beer) customers are able to try 4 different beers for a cheaper price than buying them each separately.
The logo for the “88” came from an overhead view of the 4 bottles in the package. The design in general is meant to be fairly simple and bold to create attention on the shelf and then let the beer speak for itself. Overall the design, the size and the weight of The Lakefront 88 gives it a pretty impactful presence among the other products in the beer cooler.
Christmas Absinthe
Espolón
Just in time to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Mexico’s independence from Spain, Espolón™ Tequila returns to the United States with the same award-winning liquid but with a whole new look.
The new packaging of this cult-favorite tequila pays homage to the brave men and women who fiercely fought to establish what is known as today’s “Real Mexico,” a country steeped in authenticity, history and tradition.
Rich in iconic imagery, Espolón Tequila’s unique labels celebrate Mexico’s storied culture as well as the iconic rooster – a symbol of national pride.
Siete Pecados
A Series of wines inspired by the Seven Deadly Sins. The design of the bottles reflect each one of the sins visually. Fall into temptation.
Lobo Apple Cider
Lobo, Spanish for wolf and a cloudy apple cider from the Adelaide Hills. Mash re-designed the existing Lobo packaging with a completely new approach and new level of sophistication for the apple quaffing connoisseur.
Working with LA illustrator Jason Holley, a new cunning wolf character was created. Rough hand painted text you might see on a farm shed forms the logo type in keeping with the hand made approach of this juicy cider.
The Measure
This is the wine label that they (The Measure) developed to give to clients and suppliers as a thank you present. The label features a mixed typographic approach and is printed in super slick gold foil.
As the label says “This one’s a keeper” referring to both the wine for cellaring and the studio for future projects.
Cavalierino
Cavalierino is a small winery in the beautiful high hills of Poggiano within a stone’s throw from the historical towns of Montepulciano and Pienza just south of Siena, Tuscany, Italy. 155 prime acres of vineyards, olive groves, woods and cypress trees are bathed in a soft, golden Tuscan light.
Glow
The design for Glow is modern and colourful, clearly flirting with the fashion pack among the target group.
Entente
Marisco Vineyards have had a long-standing relationship with international fashion designer Trelise Cooper, sponsoring many of her fashion shows etc. As a result of that friendship and business partnership an opportunity came up to involve Trelise in the design for a limited release wine.
Márton
Márton, a very small, family run winery approached me to create an attractive label design for their Christmas edition of selected red wines.
Samson
Bottle design and branding for New Jersey-based craft brewer Jeff Samson. Starting with the legend of Samson and the Lion most of us are familiar with and adding a beverage industry twist, these liter bottles are screen printed front and back and packaged in original repurposed beverage crates
Flitrini
Redesign of FLIRTINI cranberry wine package for Creative Wine Company.
Osječko pivo
The usual bottle label was printed in red color. This small intervention retained their identity while adding winter flair.
Spanish White Guerrilla
Spanish White Guerrilla is a collection of “revolutionary” wines created by Vintae. For the first time ever, the nine white grape varieties which enjoy the greatest international prestige have been cultivated in La Rioja.
Nine entertaining warriors, inspired by the origin of the grape which each represents, bring this unusual collection to life.
Kraken Rum 3D
The Kraken Black Spiced Rum has introduced 3-D labels designed by London based STRANGER & STRANGER.
Amarone Bottega
The renowned American designer Denise Focil has partnered with the award-winning Italian wine maker Distilleria Bottega to create a luxury and stylish wine: Amarone Bottega, Il vino Prêt-á-porter.
The bottle features a white leather label and is nestled in a white leather case embellished with debossed black lettering: a collectible piece that reminds of a vintage suitcase. The case is enriched with metal studs (the latest, hottest fashion trend) and with a metal plaque with engraved the Alpinestars by Denise Focil logo.
Nuevas Rias
A range consisting of three references, each one showing off a unique colour. The transparency plays an important role in the design due to the fact that it enables the different elements of the packaging to fuse together without minimizing its importance.
A strong branding consisting of typography of Gothic influences, brief text explaining the characteristics of the liqueur to the consumer and a cross symbolizing of the origin of these orujos. The result, a reinterpretation of the Galician classic codes that add impact on shelves and transmit undisputed quality.
Tuaca
TUACA’s Perfect Chill label features custom artwork by world famous tattoo artist Corey Miller whose signature also adorns the bottle.
The tattoo is printed with thermochromatic ink, a special dye that changes color when temperatures increase or decrease. When the TUACA bottle reaches the perfect temperature, the color activates to blue, but as the bottle resumes to room temperature, the original light silver color returns.
Tequila 29
Tequila 29 Two Nine is a Blanco and Reposado tequila made of 100% pure Agave, in “Los Altos” Jalisco. The Reposado is aged during 6 to 8 months in French white oak barrels previously used to age Whiskey.
Miller Coors
Beer package design concept for Miller Coors. 96 oz. of pressurized beer for the Nascar crowd. Drink it, spray it on your friends or wife, or light it on fire.
Spring Edition
Eno Wines
Eno Wines is a Berkeley-based, boutique winery producing small batches of Pinot Noir, Old Vine Zinfandel, Grenache, and Syrah from world class and undiscovered vineyards.
Floating Mountain
Floating Mountain owned by Dancing Water, Waipara, New Zealand wanted a revised label. They took it way further and the client loved it.
A black gloss foil embossed onto black matt printed white uncoated stock. They have also redesigned their Dancing Water wine labels.
Braufactum
The best of imported beers and high class self-made creations – that is what Braufactum is all about. The new gourmet label of the Oetker group introduces a unique collection that will establish a new style of brewing culture.
VS Wines
Belvedere Vodka
New wine packaging design by FeedbackMP Barcelona, for VS wines from Costers del Sió winery located in Lleida, Spain (Appellation of Origin: Costers del Segre).
The main marketing objective to FeedbackMP team was to reposition this range of products to make it more attractive to its target audience: mostly young people seeking a distinctive component in the product image, a quality wine, easy to drink and understand, with excellent value for money.
Graci
Harvey River Bridge Estate approached brainCELLS in early 2010 to work on a new premium cider range called Graci. Harvey Fresh are well known for their quality fruit so a range of cider with apple, pear and grape varieties seemed like a wise investment.
The packaging of the cider reflects the tradition and heritage of the Harvey orchards that have been operating for many decades in Western Australia. The traditional look was achieved with a scraperboard illustration and a visual palette of dusty colours and vintage typefaces.
The result is a cider package that will attract both experienced and in-experienced cider drinkers over the summer months. Graci is now available in liquor outlets across Australia.
Sigtuna Christmas Lager
Sigtuna is an up and coming micro brewery just outside of Stockholm, Sweden. They have recently received numberous awards for their beers and continue to reap success within the beer communities.
This years christmas lager needed a design that highlighted the premium characteristics of the beverage, while adding a new twist to the symbolism of the holidays.
The Handshake
In 2010 brianCELLS designed a new series of wine labels for a well respected West Australian Liquor merchant, Liquor Barons.
Ginself
Ginself is the result of the enthusiastic pursuit of the perfect gin by its four creators, and is the first 100% premium gin in Valencia Spain.
Lorem Wine
Lorem Wine is a very special project, because the author has designed it exclusively for designers. So dear designer, take a break, lay back and enjoy this wine
Midnight Moonshine
Few family recipes carry a jail sentence, but for the Johnson family it was a way of life; with the law on his heels, Junior ran the finest moonshine to the dry rural south.
Junior Johnson’s family recipe is a triple distilled, lower proof and a legal version than the original. As smooth as premium vodka, it’s grain neutral and virtually odorless. Drawing inspiration from the design of Johnson’s cars, used for running in the 1930s and ’40s the packaging was kept simple and bold.
The Kings Series
Vino Fino
Belancio created the new luxury wine brand Vino Fino. The branding included a hand crafted wood box finished in dark mahogany, with a solid platinum V attached to the surface.
Meteor Bright White
A simple design to showcase the wine in the bottle. The bright color of this bottle is a great contrast to the rest of the Meteor line.
Jeremy Wine Co.
The unique full wrap dieline forms the phonetic ” J ” for Jeremy, which also reads as a lowercase ” f ” alluding to the tagline “forty thousand hours in each bottle” when the wine is poured (invert the bottle).
Monteith’s Single Source
The new Single Source lager is a single minded brand that heralds its own craft process. A uniquely New Zealand batch-brewed beer, it is unswervingly true to the land and the people from which it originates. Like the resulting flavour, the design needed to embody its real character, integrity and undeniable class.