A person holding a glass of red wine and another person holding a glass of white wine in a vineyard with a background of grapevines and sunlight. There are bottles labeled Mystic Spirits Distillery with apple cider sangria and pumpkin spice sangria on a wooden barrel surrounded by grapes.

This project was to create a forced connection branding project that was out of the box. Mixing a distillery and spirit company together to create something completely different than what most would think.

Forced Connection

Research

Every forced connection is different, but some are just out of the box. It’s the start of the fall season, leaves are changing, and the autumn air is crisp. Mix a little wine with your whiskey/bourbon, and you get that warm, fuzzy feeling going. E & J. Gallo Winery and Mystic Mountain Distillery were the inspiration for Mystic Spirits Distillery. With a past of being a bartender and growing up with homemade wine being made in the house, this hit home.

Logo of Mystic Mountain Distillery with a mountain illustration, the company name, and the tagline 'Legendary Colorado Spirits'.
E&J Gallo Winery logo with a crest and stylized text

Skecthes

The goal of doing this forced connection was to give a new look at some drinks during the season. The design aspect was to play on the mix of mountains and wood since the distillery is located up in Oregon to honor my past father (April 10, 2023).

Everything that was put into the design was drawn from family, which was the goal to make it almost a small family business. The design, though, was to draw in not just country but city people. Showing the mix of woods and mountains with drinks of whiskey and wine. Thus, the age range is 21 and up, both men and women. 

Sketch of a beverage label with sections labeled for flavor, mystical spirits distillery, grapes, cherry blossom, and New York sour.
A hand-drawn logo with a city skyline, mountains in the background, and the words "Music Spirits Distillery" at the bottom.
Hand-drawn sketch of a mountain landscape with trees, a city skyline, and handwritten text including "Mystic Spirits Distillery" and "Silhouette City."
A hand-drawn sketch of a product display for Mystic Spirits Distillery, featuring cinnamon whiskey sangria. The display has labeled sections including 'center aisle,' 'grape vines,' and 'corn field,' with some mountain drawings and text describing the products.
A hand-drawn sketch of a cityscape titled "Mystic Spirits Distillery," with labels for "city," "corn," "grapes," and "New York".
A hand-drawn schematic of a drink labeled 'Mystic Spirits Distillery' with notes on ingredients, including 'cinnamon,' 'whiskey sangria,' and 'corn stock'.

Color Palete

The leaves are starting to change colors, the air is crisp, and the weather is starting to be perfect for outdoor activities. People start going out to pumpkin patches, picking apples from trees, and enjoying the beautiful scenery around them.

Pulling from this feel, went with both having a different twist. Having the red apple color mixed with the pumpkin orange. Showcasing both drinks to the fullest, with the labels having a faint shade of purple to show the winey.

Hex: C06818

RGB: 192,104,24

CMYK: 2,60,100,23

Hex: BE1E2D

RGB: 190,30,45

CMYK: 15,100,90,10

Hex: 231F20

RGB: 35,31,32

CMYK: 0,0,0,100

When it came to the font, in the beginning I wanted something that added the whiskey brew feel. Slowly moving from that direction, the size of the bottle that was used for this part decided to go in a cleaner direction for the font choices.

Baskerville Regular (Body)

Baskerville Semi-Bold (Subheaders)

Rockwell Regular (Company Name)

Typeface

Sample text showcasing three different fonts: Baskerville Regular, Baskerville Semi-Bold, and Rockwell Regular, including alphabet, numbers, and special characters.

Digital Initial

The direction of the first round of labels was to have that feel of the forest and night sky, though, through redesign learned that the illustrations were too overpowering against a gradient background. Some of the text was hard to even read due to this issue.

On top of that, the font was too bold in some areas, and hard to read what was typed for the descriptions.

Label for Mystic Spirits Distillery Buzzy Pumpkin Sangria, featuring a mountain and elk silhouette, with text describing the drink's ingredients and alcohol content, and a small image of a pumpkin with cinnamon sticks and orange slices.
Label for Mystic Spirits Distillery's Apple Pie Sangria featuring a black silhouette of a forest, the moon in a night sky, and a large red apple with cinnamon sticks and a slice of apple in front, with descriptive text about the drink and government warnings.

Final Designs

Going with a bottle that fit the spirit feel did a wrap-around label. Using a light purple to show the winery side of the forced connection, mixed with the fonts of a distillery. Pulling from each flavor for the different touches to show what each flavor was (Pumpkin Spice Sangria and Apple Cider Sangria).

Label for Mystic Spirits Distillery Pumpkin Spice Sangria featuring a mountain and forest silhouette, pumpkin illustration, and product description.
Label for Mystic Spirits Distillery Apple Cider Sangria, made with red wine, apple cider, cinnamon whiskey, and apple cider, featuring a mountain and forest illustration, a green apple with cinnamon sticks, and a barcode.
A bottle of Mystic Spirits Distillery Pumpkin Spice Sangria with a purple cap and a label featuring a mountain, trees, and a pumpkin on a branch.

Branding Mock-Ups

A bottle of Mystic Spirits Distillery Apple Cider Sangria with a white label, black mountain and tree graphic, and red and green text and illustrations.
Close-up of a person's finger holding a blue container with a white mountain and forest landscape on its bottom.
Three bottles of Mystic Spirits Distillery Apple Cider Sangria with dark liquid, pink caps, and white labels featuring mountain and forest illustration, apple, cinnamon sticks, and star anise, with alcohol content of 15%.
Three bottles of Pumpkin Spice Sangria from Mystic Spirits Distillery, with purple caps and white labels, featuring a mountain and forest illustration and pumpkin-themed graphics.

Environmental Contact

Two bottles of Mystic Spirits Distillery drinks, one Apple Cider Sangria and one Pumpkin Spice Sangria, on a woven surface outdoors with a woman in a red shirt in the background holding a glass.
A person in white shirt pouring red apple cider from a bottle labeled 'Mystic Spirits Distillery' into a wine glass.
Two women standing outdoors holding bottles of drinks with labels from Mystic Spirits Distillery, smiling and dressed casually, with a stone wall in the background.
Person holding a bottle of Mystic Spirits Distillery Pumpkin Spice Sangria in front of a picnic table with cheese, crackers, lemon slices, and wine glasses at an outdoor setting.
A bottle of Mystic Spirits Distillery Pumpkin Spice Sangria with a glass of wine next to it, set on an outdoor table at a busy evening event with people and red umbrellas in the background.
A bottle of Mystic Spirits Distillery Apple Cider Sangria with two filled wine glasses on a white kitchen counter, surrounded by colorful vegetables, with two people smiling and talking in the background.
Work Page →
Infographic Poster ←