Product design for Invivo Spirits in Vienna, Austria.

The Donauweibchen is the Danube River Mermaid, an ancient tale told by fishermen in the area around Vienna. The story goes, in short, that a Mer-King lives under the river in a glass castle, and his daughters were helpful to the humans, warning of flooding and saving overboard sailors. They would turn into human form and go into the city of Vienna at night, dancing with the locals. Occasionally they would fall in love, and take their lover under the waves with them, keeping their soul in a bottle.

I chose the bottle shape because in the hand it gives the feeling of a wave at the shoulder.

The label design was limited due to the budget constraints of a small business, so i chose a clear sticker label rather than printing directly in the glass for the first order of bottles. It was a simple 2-color print (black over white) at a very high resolution so that it still looks and feels like a hand-drawn piece of art, even up close. 

I commissioned the American artist Tony Millionair to produce the final drawing, and he delivered exactly what I wanted. The final piece sells the fact that this Gin is a locally-produced, small-batch, high-quality product made in Vienna.