The international design studio D8’s Glasgow team has crafted a fresh brand world for Edinburgh Gin, in conjunction with the redesign of its core range bottles in 2023.
The redesign initiative encompassed new glassware, logos, and labeling. To successfully launch this, a new brand world was essential to propel the gin into its next phase of evolution.
Having collaborated with Edinburgh Gin since 2019 on various projects, including previous brand development and guidelines, D8 was thrilled to take on this project. According to Emma Durnan, D8’s design director, the brief stemmed from research findings and strategy recommendations developed by D8 for a previous project earlier that year, which served as a foundation for their work.
D8’s goal for this project was to create key product visuals for multiple touchpoints, along with a toolkit of supporting assets, templates, and comprehensive guidelines. Additionally, the studio was focused on expanding Edinburgh Gin’s ready-to-drink can range, visual identity for the new distillery and visitor center, and labeling for future line extensions.
The overall visual strategy, guided by the brand pillar ‚Filled with Wonder,‘ features 3D-rendered key visuals to highlight the beauty of the bottles and convey a sense of magic, storytelling, and occasionality for each product.
D8 also emphasized visualizing key serves for each product, offering consumers reasons to purchase and suggesting cocktails. The 3D rendering approach allowed the design team to create imaginative, rich visual sets incorporating fantastical elements like butterflies, dragonflies, bubbles, botanicals, and fruit.
The use of an arch, inspired by the architecture of Edinburgh’s new brand home, The Arches, adds depth and consistency to the visuals. This rendering approach provided practical advantages, allowing the team to enhance images as needed.
Despite challenges in ensuring realism and polish in the rendered elements, D8 overcame them through experimentation and attention to detail. Some graphic assets, such as the logo, monogram, and typefaces, were inherited from the bottle redesign and were integrated into the new brand world.
The arch, a prominent asset in the visuals, was designed with versatility in mind, enabling different representations across various applications. D8 envisions using it in photography and film, in addition to its current applications on trade stands, event graphics, and retail displays.