Hendrick’s Gin (Student Project)

Designer: Carl-Hampus Vallin
Photographer: Fujio Emura
Project Type: Student Project
School: Academy of Art University
Course: Packaging Design 4
Tutor: Thomas McNulty
Location: San Francisco, USA
Packaging Contents: Gin
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Glass
Printing Process: Color transfer on paper

Hendrick’s Gin, with it’s apothecary shaped bottle and label, was founded by William Grant & Sons in 1999. It describes itself as a gin made with an oddly delightful blend of curiosities for the individual who pursues the unusual. Traditional gin is solely made out of juniper while Hendrick’s Gin is made with juniper, rose petals and cucumber. An interesting aspect of Hendrick’s is how subtle the bottle and the label are but there is so much of the story that never is told unless you search for it.

I was asked to make a revolutionary version of the Hendrick’s Gin, a design that would look different from their current label but still be recognizable. In my research I found out about their peculiar past and what truly makes them odd, curious and unusual. These key words led me to create a label that questions how things are done in the world of label design, just like Hendrick’s once did with gin. I kept the triangular shape of the label and the curiously shaped bottle to keep the characteristics of the original Hendrick’s brand.