Amalga Distillery Packaging With Eric Nyffeler

The colorful illustrations that wrap these ready-to-drink cocktails cheerfully convey its fresh, locally sourced ingredients.

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A Communication Arts interview with Eric Nyffeler, illustrative/designer

Background: These can designs were are the first three releases of Amalga Distillery’s ongoing series of ready-to-drink cocktails, with many more flavors and varieties to follow. These cocktails are available to purchase in four packs at both Amalga’s tasting room and in stores across the state.

Reasoning: I wanted the bold and colorful illustrations to instantly convey the fresh, locally sourced ingredients that are used in the cocktails. Additionally, I wanted the cans to be extremely eye-catching, as they need to attract the attention of both old and new customers, as they will be carried in the tasting room and a variety of unknown stores. Lastly, I felt like the stylized, geometric illustrations of the key ingredients would give me a lot of room to continue to grow the series in the future without boxing me too tightly into the system.

Challenges: How thirsty it made me to work on these designs!

Favorite details: How well the cans work as a series with the repeated usage of textures and simple shapes, which fits in well with the rest of the branding of the distillery, which I did not create. Customers can quickly tell which is which, and what to expect from the flavors. I’m incredibly excited to continue working with the stacked, geometric ingredients for future cocktails!

Visual influences: Turn of the century children’s books and cookbooks, which are often filled with naive but beautiful illustrations. Juneau, Alaska, is a place of such bold, rugged beauty that I didn’t want the can designs to come across as hoity-toity or costly.

Specific demands: I’ve worked with the clients on a handful of previous projects and, at this point, they trust me to do anything I want. They like “my” aesthetic, so I designed these cans as if they were for my own company, products I would like to release out into the world.

Scroll down to see the collection or click to checkout Eric’s portfolio.

Even Dieline magazine reconized this Amalga Distillery project. Check it out!