A Taste Of Redemption (Student Project)

Designer: Smrithi Kumar
Project Type: Student Project
School: Northumbria University
Course: B.A. (Hons)Graphic Design
Tutor: Andrew Frith, Andy Reay, Mike Pinkney
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Packaging Contents: Whiskey
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Paper
Printing Process: Digital Printing, Embossing

Brief: Create a brand personality and identity system for a new whisky that is hitting the market in the UK next year. It’s called Elephant Whisky. Elephant differentiates itself by being distilled only in India and is one of the very few Indian Whiskies imported into this country. Extend the brand into the physicality of it’s packaging and environment with due consideration to target audiences and any rituals that may be associated/appropriate and probably differentiate between the two products and potentially different target audiences.

A unique whiskey, hand-crafted with compassion, matured to perfection , tasted and blended by experts for one purpose – To reunite kin, companions and nations.

We bring to you Elephant Whiskey from the war-grounds of Kalinga. It is not just a drink, it is a testimony against war.

The brand identity and packaging has been devised keeping the brand values and personality in mind, while also making sure it integrates with the brand story. A story of two warring armies who change their ways after witnessing an act of utmost compassion by the war elephants and decide to make a drink to honour them.A local brew – a rich whiskey, spicy like pepper in the throat at first and then mellow and intriguing, just like the history of this region.

There are two products – A 20 year Single Malt and a Blended Whiskey. The target audience for both – An elite upper class of individuals who care and dare to change the world. They are passionate, zealous and honourable.

What’s Unique?
The product and packaging is highly integrated with the brand story. Every aspect of the product complements one another. The identity hints at the warrior in the war of Kalinga, while the unique shape of the bottle was picked to enhance how the logo looks. The metallic finish of the label gives it a minimal yet elite look. This a premium brand with a rich heritage and the packaging tries to reinforce this. The shape of the bottle helps the whiskey have a unique shelf presence, hence for the Blended variant we decided to let the bottle and label speak for themself and did not add a packaging.

For the expensive Single Malt variant we wanted to add value to the product by introducing packaging that goes along with the brand story and brand values. Thus we introduced the Indian game of ‘Catur’ into the packaging. It is an indigenous version of Chess with very similar rules.

We use a hard bound matt black box with our prized bottle placed carefully between the armed lines of ‘Catur’ pieces hinting at the brand story where a whiskey was made when two opposing armies became allies. The ‘Catur’ game also reinforces the idea of uniting people and starting cordial conversations over a glass of whiskey.

Our logo is carefully embossed at the front and the whole box screams minimal and classy. Thebox e ortlessly unfolds into the game board as shown with the extra sides acting as coasters for your drinks.