This will sound as un-scientific as possible, but I have a hunch that most summer Dieline Packs of the Month revolve around spirits and mixers.
You’re thinking about lounging around the pool—kiddy versions TOTALLY accepted, incidentally—and not doing much of anything at all, preferably with a nice cocktail in hand. And honestly, nothing beats a good G&T as June gracefully and sweatily turns into July.
Designed in collaboration by Swig Studio and Schubert Studio, Condesa Gin is a new brand via Mexico City with packaging and a visual identity celebrating its all-female distillery team and curandera healing rituals. We talked with Jonathan Schubert and Kevin Roberson of Swig about the perfectly pleasant and summer-ready design for this upstart brand.
Take us through the design process that you went through for this project.
Kevin Roberson: Our client approached us to help them develop brand packaging for a new gin from Mexico City. Our studio has done quite a bit of work in Mexico, and we have expertise in creating unique packaging for boutique brands there. As gin is not a very common Mexican product, we had an opportunity to create our own design language for it—staying away from any of the usual design elements in the tequila space and other traditional Mexican visuals. We wanted to tap into the younger, more cosmopolitan aesthetic of Mexico City. We collaborated with Schubert Studio on the branding as our client had already had some creative ideas in motion. It was a great pairing of aesthetics for this product. Swig created a custom apothecary-inspired mold for the bottle and a wood closure to keep the whole vibe earthy and simple but refined and beautiful. We also developed a special emboss texture and matte foil for the labels.
Jonathan Schubert: Condesa Gin found inspiration in the unique and rich aesthetics of Mexico City and the neighborhood of Condesa. We should note that the brand concept (“Condesa Gin”) doubles in meaning with the inspiration pulling from the CDMX neighborhood of the same name and, also quite literally, a countess (also the curandera) as the central brand narrative and icon.
We set the focus for developing the brand upon translating typographic and environmental inspiration from La Condesa and wider CDMX into a raw aesthetic to deliver their story.
The label, while beautifully finished, delivers the essence of the brand in its simplicity and humble, balanced composition. Ultimately, we wanted to develop a brand that feels authentically inspired by the place it comes, from typography to iconography. All typography and illustrations developed for Condesa Gin have a soft edge and hand-drawn feel—as if they are graphic artifacts of uncertain age and creators unknown, which we pulled directly from the streets of Mexico City.
What was one of the biggest goals you set out to achieve with Condesa packaging, and how did you accomplish it?
Roberson: A priority for us was to create something new in the gin category—to become the essential gin from Mexico. We also wanted to create a package that reflected the vibe of the current Mexico City cultural scene.
Botanicals feature heavily on the packaging and in the brand story. Why was that, and did that inform the apothecary vibe to the bottle shape?
Roberson: The distiller is an amazing woman who leads an all-female team. She has a lot of experience using different regional Mexican botanicals in her other work. The plan for Condesa was to utilize these unexpected ingredients like palo santo, sage, and prickly pear.
Many of the botanicals have roots in the healing arts in Mexico. The term “curandera” roughly translates to the healer. Everyone on the creative team liked the idea of emphasizing this ritual aspect across the branding and packaging. So, yes, the apothecary nature of the model made total sense with the style of the gin and the story.
What was the most challenging part of this project?
Schubert: For Schubert Studio’s part in the branding, the biggest challenge seemed to be achieving a raw and slightly unrefined aesthetic all around while also delivering a softer, understated brand and product. Sometimes hand-drawn typography and illustration can feel a bit too heavy. The brand needed to feel like a seamless extension of the distiller, her team, the world of the curandera, and the work she dedicates herself to. Ultimately, Swig delivered the perfect vessel to present the typography and iconography—they did beautiful work with the glass. The label paper and printing technique adds so much to experiencing the product.
Roberson: The challenge was mostly around timing the glass production and getting the colors right. We went through several prototypes to get the pink glass we wanted. We also had to figure a way to emboss the bottle so it wouldn’t get damaged in transport. A little tricky, but it came out great.
How did the curandera influence the style of illustration in the logo?
Schubert: The logo is quite literally a portrait of la Condesa. But it’s also a nod to the roots and true origins of the brand. The distiller is an amazing woman who leads an all-female team. She has a lot of experience using different regional Mexican botanicals in her other work. The plan for Condesa was to utilize these unexpected ingredients—many of the botanicals have roots in the healing arts in Mexico.
In terms of style, the portrait displayed on the label is meant to feel personal and understated, like it came directly from the distiller’s hand or hand-drawn signage on the street. While it’s beautiful on its own, with soft edges and simple linework, it also compliments the surrounding typography on the label and sets the tone for one’s entire interaction with the brand and the gin.
What was the typography(s) used on the project? Why did you select that particular type for the brand?
Schubert: The core typography (logotype) is fully custom and based on a mixture of typography I saw in CDMX and the Condesa neighborhood, most of it hand-painted on walls, signs, or street markers. It has a subtle Deco-era edge while feeling somewhat timeless and classic within a broader 20th-century inspiration. The typography used in the logotype was eventually fleshed out and polished into a fully custom typeface for the brand. We also employed several supporting typefaces created by the talented James Coffman, a designer and typographer based in the US. That said, the use of his type was further customized for exactly what we needed.
Roberson: I really like the weathered nature and soft edges in the type. It gives the impression of something with age and patina and also created a great foil deboss.
If you could pick one aspect of the finished design that you like the most or feel proud of, what would it be and why?
Schubert: Swig Studio’s decision to mold the curandera’s hand holding the flower into the back of the bottle is quite literally my favorite delivery of the brand to the product and a wonderful surprise for anyone not aware it’s coming to them. Schubert Studio can’t take credit for this idea (just the illustration in use). Nice work, Swig. This project was a dream team on all fronts.
Roberson: I love the pink glass. It’s just pretty to look at and evokes the floral notes and orange blossoms in the gin.
Share one lesson that you learned while developing the finished product.
Schubert: It goes a long way to work with people who are experts at what they do, and the final product becomes something completely original when that kind of magic gets shared among the team you’re working with.
Roberson: Always add two more weeks to the print schedule!
