Background - My step-dad, Smed, creates various liquors throughout the year to use (mostly) as gifts. He’s made a variety of concoctions over the past couple of years by simply filling a 5L demijohns with various fruits, spirits and sugar then letting them age for 6 months before bottling them.

 

Problem - The product didn’t communicate anything effectively other than it was a home-made liquor. They previously used hand written labels, if any, and simply didn’t look special or unique.

 

Solution – I designed new labels that add to the novelty factor of the product, making it suit the creators personality much more and making it a bit more special as a gift. The packaging was inspired by Big Audio Dynamite’s hit 1980′s song, Medicine Show, a favourite of Smed’s for lyrics like “If you’ve got straight trousers it will give you flares”.

 

The influence of the song led to the creation of a “Certified product of Smed’s Medicine Show” label for the reverse of the bottle and adapted lyrics on the front. The overall feel of the bottle was designed with the idea that it could be the product that the song describes too, drawing inspiration from old-style medicine packaging for the aesthetic style.

 

The labels also had to compliment the home-made feel of the product, so were printed at home and in black and white to minimise the effect of poor quality printing and be more in line with the idea of old medicine bottles.