[ Package Design ]
Academy of Art - Package Design 4
Who's that Knocking on Death's Door?
▲ [ PROBLEM ] Oh no! It’s a gin-drinking monster! In order to vanquish this monster I need to create a new application graphics for Death’s Door Gin. The evolutionary design will maintain the current bottle shape, including front and back labels. The revolutionary design will reposition this gin product by creating a premium/upscale.
▲[ EVOLUTIONARY ] Along with maintaining the current bottle shape, it was important to not stray too far away from the original look and feel. I believed it was important to keep the map-like image. The current label was broken up into too many sections, so the first step was to make the entire label feel more cohesive. I also felt that this monster’s skin tone was a little too pale, so I deepened the tone of his blue. Lastly, I refined the Death’s Door logo by changing the main typeface, casting a shadow for depth, and adding more detail in the flourishes.
▲ [ REVOLUTIONARY ] The concept behind this design started from the history of the name “Death’s Door.” Death’s Door is a rather grim name for the body of water that is between Door County Peninsula and Washington Island. There are numerous stories of major shipwrecks and ship capsizing by the swirling currents and howling winds. To illustrate this, I wanted to make the label feel like it was a “message in a bottle.” To put a twist to it, I decided to create the illusion as if the map were under water. To make this illusion possible the label is adhered from the back creating an obscure view of the label. Its purpose is to first get the customers’ attention due to the distorted view and then get them to interact with the bottle by tilting it around and exploring all its hidden treasures. During this project, I was constantly reminded that gin is not considered an aggressive drink. Therefore the “handsome skull” featured on the front label is meant to give a free-spirited and goofy tone.
