Ex-Libris Botanical Vodka
Branding | Packaging | ART DIRECTION
Introducing botanicals and craft to the sterile world of vodka, we began the first chapter of Ex-Libris with the unconventional story behind its creation.
Ex-Libris is a quality-led brand and collection of stories beginning with Botanical Vodka: an innovative spirit that brings craft, natural flavours and slow-living to the previously artificial landscape of Vodka. Ex-Libris (Latin, meaning ‘from the Library’) or bookplates are decorative labels pasted in the front endpapers of a personal book collection, often incorporating a bespoke illustration characteristic of the owner.
The identity we created for Ex-Libris invites personalisation and ownership, taking the original beauty and character of bookplates into new contexts and re-creating the experience of a book through the layers discovery built into the design. The bookplate itself features our studio Cat, and muse, Jynx, nonchalantly laid between the books of Library Design Studio and the ingredients of distilling. Every detail gives the feel of craftsmanship and the time passed in its making.
Bound in bookbinders cloth and sealed with a book band, we created Ex-Libris gift books to conceal our miniature bottles. The gift-books unravel the world of Ex-Libris, guiding their owner through the journey to eventually come to its conclusion: the spirit itself.
Ex-Libris marries the visual languages of both traditional craft distilling and Vodka. Using ornate print details with bold, precise shapes and stark light/dark contrasts, we created an aesthetic through the theme of publishing, to seamlessly translate across both printed and digital platforms.
