J.T. Meleck

Agency: DAf
Designer: Macarena Norambuena
Project Type: Produced, Commercial Work
Client: J.T. Meleck Distillers
Location: Santiago, Chile
Packaging Contents: Spirits
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Glass bottle
Printing Process: Offset printing, Foil stamping

Mike Frugé, a Louisiana rice and crawfish farmer, had a vision: to become one of the first producers of rice vodka and whiskey in the US. He approached DAf to collaborate in the inception of this new brand: to name it, create a packaging design and brand storytelling. Named J.T. Meleck for Mike’s innovative, entrepreneurial grandfather, the packaging design places Louisianan culture at its core, employing a number of elements that typify the state’s culinary and cultural heritage. The crawfish is central and flanked on each side by frond-like rice plants whose grains give life to the final product. The stylized fleur-de-lis lily and the color blue are representative of Louisiana, while the imperfections in the logo and crawfish sketch evoke the honest, transparent hard work undertook by this family and the man who began it all: J.T. Meleck.

What’s Unique?
This was one of the first products of its kind in the US market and a chance for DAf to explore craft spirits. We traveled to Louisiana to experience first-hand the culinary and cultural elements that represent the state and that ultimately inspired the strategy behind the branding and brand communications for these new rice spirits.