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The Irish Whiskey That Does It Different: W.D. O'Connell Whiskey Merchants

by Shawn Binder on 09/16/2020 | 2 Minute Read

The crisp design for W.D. O'Connell whiskey merchants invites the drinker to leave behind the expected. The design jettisons traditional whiskey brand designs (we're talking any shades of green are decidedly absent, as is any gaelic design cues. The result in a bold design that revels in the details. With this whiskey brand, your night cap is about to get a serious level-up. 


W.D. O’Connell Whiskey Merchants

When a former Hong Kong boat-owning ex pilot makes Irish Whiskey, he’s probably going to do it differently.

“This is the beginning of a family business” was founder Daithí O’Connell’s opening brief, “and we’re going to be honest and transparent in everything we do.” With so many Whiskey brands in the market, people are surprised to hear that up until very recently there were only a handful of actual distilleries in the country… In short, there’s a lot of blarney and obfuscation involved in Irish whiskey brand story telling.

Daithí O’Connell is a whiskey procurer—not a distiller. He creates small batch fine whiskies from various distilleries, finishing them in a variety of casks. This is a brand that will curate fine Irish whiskies, finished in interesting ways for Whiskey lovers looking for something different. This focus on transparency led the design process—with every aspect of the branding and packaging telling an authentic story. We avoided the familiar iconography of whiskey for a pared-back typographic approach inspired by the clarity and simplicity of whiskey bonders’ signage & ledgers. The bottle shape has a simplicity that feels modern (but with a pinch of timelessness).

Project Scope: Branding, Packaging & Label Design, Guidelines

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Editorial photograph