Virginia based bourbon producer Ironclad Distillery Co. originally contacted Omnibus Creative Studio, who I worked closely with, to help develop a label for their first small-batch bourbon release. Maybe its our love for well-designed packaging, maybe its our love for bourbon, but the exploration into the brand's vision for their product, and the heritage of their environment (a 150+ year old distillery on the James River, at the very site of the infamous battle of the ironclads during the Civil War) provided us a wealth of ideas that led to a complete brand identity package for the distillery and its product.
With the help of The Mariners Museum of Newport News, we were able to get access scans of actual Civil War era plans, newspaper accounts and diary entries to bring the brand to life. A secret peel-back label reveals secret plans of an ironclad ship, a turret detail becomes part of an icon for the for the distillery's premier bourbon, the front page of the local newspaper dated the day of that infamous battle becomes the gift-wrapping for all bottles leaving the tasting room. Additional labels followed for each hand-crafted product release. Loyalty programs, advertising, gift packages and merchandise followed soon after, with a steady stream of cohesively branded projects continuing to this day.
