To leverage the storehouses of once-thriving American bourbon distilleries, Diageo approached us to help create a new-to-the-world brand with timeless appeal. Orphan Barrel, a family of small-batch whiskies sourced from forgotten barrels, tells the stories of character-rich liquids rooted in craft, quality, and authenticity. From the series’ hand-drawn labels, to its hand-filled bottling line, to its signed and numbered editions, Orphan Barrel represents best-in-class design and implementation.
The Orphan Barrel branding uses a rough-hewn hand drawn brandmark and a color palette of grays, browns and golds echoing the materials and colors from the rickhouses and distilleries where these barrels are found. It remains consistent with each launch to announce all variants as members of the family, but the individual issues have their own personalities with animals that express the unique character of liquid and name. Five brands were launched: 20-year-old Barterhouse Whiskey, 20-year-old Rhetoric, 26-year-aged Old Blowhard, 15-year-old Forged Oak, and 22-year-old Lost Prophet.
Each label was hand lettered and drawn featuring metallic varnishes and foil stamps, each detail reinforces authenticity and craftsmanship. We wanted to ensure that we took the crafted quality of the liquid seriously, but injected a bit of fun when bringing these whiskies to life with the unique marques and personalities.
In addition to the concept and packaging work, our agency also developed Key Visuals for both offerings. Since launching in March 2014, Orphan Barrel has been met with critical acclaim from the bourbon connoisseur community.
Brand Creation, Naming, Branding, Visual Strategy, Packaging design, Art Direction, Key Visuals.
