Hampden Estate DOK 5yr 2017
Custom design and illustrations for PM Spirits and la Maison & Velier celebrating PM Spirits 10 Year Anniversary.
This is a single cask of rum from the Hampden Distillery located in Jamaica. This DOK marque rum (1500-1600 g/hl aa ester count) was distilled from molasses on a pot still. It was then aged in an ex-bourbon cask for 5 years in Jamaica before being bottled at cask strength with no additives and sold in the New York market to celebrate PM Spirits 10 year anniversary.
BAR DIVER COCKTAILS
Bar Diver Deluxe Classic Cocktails aims to bring bar-quality cocktails into your home. All the complexity, without the hassle, and more than enough to share. Bar Diver arrives in response to a market saturated with soda/carbonated cocktails. The opportunity to innovate on the premium cocktail moment was something industry pioneer Joe Heron couldn’t pass up.
We created Bar Diver to be an iconic playful character ready at a moment’s notice, with enough variety and complexity to satisfy any audience. The character, iconography, and type systems encompass an initial suite of 15 expressions in three vertical categories: Classic, Sparkling, and Cream. Future releases will innovate in the non-alcoholic and cannabis categories.
Pop cap, pour over good ice, garnish. Add music and your preferred atmosphere.
Elegant & spirit-forward. The perfect balance of bitter, boozy, and not too sweet. Delicious. Authentic, without compromise. Superb quality natural ingredients, batched with craft.
Tximista Vermouth
Tximista is the Basque word for lightning, which is how the idea struck to make this incredible vermouth - the first ever made with 100% Hondarrabi Zuri Getariako Txakoli Wine wine grapes, an indigenous varietal found only in this very special part of Spain.
Their vines grow along the Bay of Biscay, which is often ravaged by stormy weather, giving the grapes an electric mouth-feel, salinity, and acidity. Together with a unique blend of herbs and botanicals, this lends the vermouth a fresh, crisp flavor perfect for mixing cocktails, drinking on the rocks with a simple twist, or a splash of soda.
The iconography of this package builds off of the “junk-type” idea of lost or imperfect graphics found on old machinery. The lighting bolt reinforces aludes to the bright saline profile of this sweet, herbaceous wine.
San Bartolo Mezcal Artesanal
San Bartolo mezcal artesanal has been producing mezcal through four generations of Maestros Mezcaleros in the San Bartolo Yautepec valley in Oaxaca. With it’s initial launch from Maestro Valentin Martinez Lopez it garnered double gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
San Bartolo was intent on taking the recognition garnered to see where other expressions could fit into their evolving family of production. The labels needed to easily distinguish themselves from one another and create a structure for future releases. Material changes to the paper stock add a “hand-crafted” sensibility to the package.
San Bartolo mezcal artesanal is a dream come true for Lopez and his grandson, who sought to represent their village and their values by creating this sustainable Mezcal brand.
CAÑADA
Agricole-style Rum from the Oaxacan Cloud Forest.
CAÑADA is the fruit of the labor and knowledge of third-generation aguardiente master distillers who live far off the grid in the town of Santa Maria Tlalixtac, Oaxaca. There they plant, harvest, and distill 100% organic java sugarcane from altitudes as high as 4,000 feet above sea level.
This project was a repack from its original branding. First shipments landed in the US as the pandemic shut-down hit. It never saw full retail distribution with many restaurants, bars, and retailers hurting or closing shop.
The importer reached out and we were able to create a unique identity that speaks to the place and process of its production. The label maintains the practice of transparency in Oaxacan spirits. It is an elevated package for a nuanced, cocktail-focused spirit.
Discover the flavors of Oaxaca’s tropical cloud forest.
CAÑADA Social grid
CAÑADA site design
SWAE
SWAE is redefining the luxury car industry with custom-built supercars. Mclaren, Lamborghini, and Maserati are just a few of the names reinvented by this bespoke Skunkworks niche car “shop.”
We felt that the DNA of SWAE resonated with the Ouroboros — an ancient alchemical symbol depicting a snake swallowing its own tail. It expresses the unity of all things, material and spiritual, which never disappear but perpetually changes form in an eternal cycle of destruction and re-creation — just like their cars.
Because of this significant symbolism and the undeniable fact that the snake is a swift, mysterious, and luxurious creature in nature, we decided that it would be the ideal mascot to align the brand with. The Brand Identity System incorporates various iterations of the SWAE snake as well as an “S” mark which can be used interchangeably in various circumstances.
Adorned with a custom SWAE repeat pattern, SERPENS is as mesmerizing standing still as it is at 100 miles per hour. This pattern is emblazoned with the scales of a serpent and PROTEA blossoms. An annual plant that is named after the Greek god Proteus, a deity that was able to change forms.
The design was created by William Bahan specifically for SWAE, locking up perfectly with our Ouroboros Tee. Painstakingly wrapped in-house by SWAE Automotive Specialist Colton Hermosillo, the exterior of this car is the result of more than 50 hours of design and application.
A seminal release explicitly designed to showcase the elegant consideration within the SWAE logo. Centered around a deep exploration of materials and processes, The SWAE Logo Capsule is defined by statement graphics and subtle details. This collection was approached as a proof of concept, bringing to life apparel seen only in dreams. While it stands as an achievement of a vision, it’s also understood that there are greater things on the horizon.
PROJECT TEAM: WILLIAM BAHAN, ERIN BAZOS, ALLEN BENEDIKT, 12OZPROPHET
PM Spirits Projects
The spirits in these bottles are some of the most singular distillates PM has had the opportunity to work with. They are an examination of age, wood, and old-school technique. They highlight the importance of mastering and understanding wood as well as the influence of unique casks on spirit, while still allowing it to sing.
In 2016, Nicolas Palazzi approached us to consider a package for some extremely limited personal stocks. The unifying thread in the line is the family and the importer's identity. We created an interlocking design system of illustrations that play with the idea of the importer’s crest unfolding along the edges of each bottle. The elements are indicative of each unique expression as well as the legacy therein.
The line has expanded to include single-barrel Armagnac and Cognac releases, and more recently additive-free, single horno tequila.
These are the PM Spirits Projects.
Original drawings - each 8.5” x 11”
Tepache Hi-Ball
The 1st carbonated + canned Tepache Hi-Ball created w/ real pineapples + 100% agave tequila. No artificial additives or chemical flavors. Launched in partnership with Thunderbolt LA, this canned cocktail’s packaging features local LA artists’ works on the initial run of cocktails. The packaging was created to relate to the dedicated cocktail community that frequents this 50 Best Bars in America winner.
Full identity, package, and site design for CA beverage @tepachehiball This small batch production set out to provide a premium cocktail with a sense of place. No artificial ingredients, responsibly sourced tequila, and it’s delicious to boot. Bold typography systems clearly communicate the product pillars while providing a scalable template for future releases.
Mic. Drop.
This project posed a unique opportunity as PM Spirits, one of the most lauded US importers of spirits, was making its first foray
into bourbon.
Mr. Palazzi had aquired an exceptional set of barrels for their inaugural release. He’d commissioned an illustration from a noted DC Comics illustrator and needed help putting it all together.
Interpreting his vision for Mic.Drop.
We created a dynamic text-heavy logo that would break up the silhouette and tie the label text together. The visual identity pairs condensed maxi-text to create a bold vision for this limited product.
The initial release sold out at wholesale within a week. It was critically received and landed on a number of lists for the most sought-after and essential bourbon releases of the last twenty years.
Subsequent releases have met with equal excitement and the future of the line continues to look promising.
SUPIMA: World'S Finest Cotton
Digital Production and Clean-up and restoration on nearly 50 images from Supima archives and Rizzoli Publishers.
original – restored
Serene: the Human Crystal
Jacket design for Serene: the Human Crystal from Author Jennifer Patryn. Published by Balboa Press. Wild postings accompanied the book launch.
Aram Saroyan – Complete Minimal Poems
Long-cherished in out-of-print editions, anthologies, and textbooks, and more recently celebrated on the internet, Aram Saroyan’s groundbreaking concrete and minimalist poems of the 1960s are gathered together here in a single volume. Complete Minimal Poems includes the entire contents of Aram Saroyan (Random House, 1968), Pages (Random House, 1969), The Rest (Telegraph, 1971), as well as Saroyan’s contribution, “Electric Poems,” to the anthology All Stars (Goliard-Grossman, 1972), and a sequence, “Short Poems,” which hasn’t appeared previously. With ties to the work of such writers and artists as E.E. Cummings, Andy Warhol, Gertrude Stein, Donald Judd, Ian Hamilton Finlay, and Steve Reich, Complete Minimal Poems confirms Aram Saroyan’s place among the most daring and engaging figures in modern poetry.
“This beautifully designed collection contains poetry that shivers with itself, like something just born. Anyone interested in art made from words should have it.”
— RICHARD HELL, THE NEW YORK TIMES SUNDAY BOOK REVIEW
FIRST EDITION, 2008
UGLY DUCKLING PRESSE / PRIMARY INFORMATION