Congratulations to Kathrin Teh (IDEA Grad 2023) for winning Graphis New Talent Annual Silver Award 2021 with 'Gossamer Gin' Packaging Design (shown above). Graphis is an international bastion of excellence in design and visual imagery.

Assignment

Gossamer Gin is a luxury gin brand, focused on introducing the fascinating ingredients present in the drink to the masses. They are a new company, wishing to set themselves apart from the rest. The objective of this project was to display the unique ingredients present in Gossamer Gin, from their respective regions.

Process

I started with identifying the regions whose flavours I wanted to focus on and ended up settling on China, India, and Spain. The next step was researching the botanicals of each region and which botanicals could be used in the creation of a gin. Once I had a list of ingredients for each country, I started drawing the individual botanicals, trying my best to stylize them in the way of scientific traditional illustrations. From there, I worked on the layout and typography, polishing until I was happy with the final result!

Approach

For the packaging design, I decided to showcase the regional botanicals used in each drink, since it’s the heart of what makes Gossamer Gin unique. My choice of typefaces were very elegant to present the gin as high-quality and classy, while the handwritten ingredients on the right side of the label contrast the type and tie in with the botanical illustrations.

Using different accent colours for each region enables a form of differentiation, since the front label is mostly monochrome, using the same layout for each gin. Meanwhile, the back of the bottle provides a nice surprise and contrast from the front, which is mostly devoid of colour. The see-through effect provides a 3 dimensionality to the design, making it more fun and interesting to look at.

Travelling is something that has become nearly impossible during these times, so I decided to advertise each gin by linking it to its country of origin (ingredients-wise) and presented the gin as an alternative to travelling – a way to still experience a foreign culture and break out of monotony, but through regional tastes.

Results

This project was a success, as it made the unique ingredients in each drink into the focus of the design, which was the initial goal. In addition, it did so in a classy and delicate way, so as to market the brand as high-class.

About Graphis

Graphis is committed to presenting and promoting the work of exceptional talent in Design, Advertising, Photography and Art/Illustration. In addition to the Platinum, Gold, and Silver winners, Graphis also embraces rising talent, all of whom have an equal Archive presentation. In our hardcover Annuals, Platinum and Gold winners receive full-page exposure, and Silver and Merit Winners are also visually presented. Up to 500 entries from each competition are included in the online archive for future reference, where everyone gets the same presentation. Today, the Graphis tradition continues, presenting award-winning work from 1944 to the present in digital and print.

For more on Kathrin see behance.net/kathrinkteh.