BARACKMAG: Apricot Pit Pálinka

Hi! I’m Grace Weber, a third-year Graphic Design & Interactive Media student at University of Wisconsin-Stout. This project was done in my Product & Packaging Design class as an assignment to create a brand and package for a beverage of our choice. We were required to use another language in addition to English on these packages and draw from the culture of the second language we chose.

I chose to design packaging for apricot pálinka, a strong fruit brandy from the country of Hungary. As my grandfather’s family is from Hungary, I had been wanting to research the culture for a while, so this was the perfect opportunity to learn. For a long time, pálinka was considered a “peasant drink” that people had some negative associations with, but in recent years it has experienced a renaissance. Pálinka has been officially geographically classified as only able to be made in specific regions of Hungary, making it a point of pride and symbol of culture for Hungarians. It is typically a drink people have warm and cozy associations with, as it is often consumed with family and friends before or after a meal.

For the most part, consumers of pálinka tend to stray towards local or homemade pálinka, so I wanted to make sure this packaging had a handmade, personal feel. The consumer demographic also leans towards older men, so my intention with this design was to make it feel fun and inviting for people of all genders and younger consumers.

Much of this inspiration for this design came from traditional Hungarian folk art motifs of symmetrical botanical patterns, as well as the stone fruits commonly used to make pálinka. The name “Barackmag” translates to peach pit or apricot pit, which is intended to tie into the idea of the pit being the heart of a fruit and pálinka coming from the heart of Hungary. With hand-drawn botanical illustration and careful typographic selection, this project introduces a unique brand for a unique beverage with deeply personal roots.