Created by winemakers Dave Phinney and Joe Wagner, Cliché is a seltzer brand that’s anything but. The brand’s design team, Public Address, focused on creating a packaging design that disrupts the market. By focusing on the trends in the industry, Public Address went against the grain with everything. The dark colors, engaging imagery, and almost grungy aesthetic allow this can to stand out in a massive sea of hundreds of competitors. Cliché is different in the best possible way.
“Not another seltzer” is the calling card for Public Address’ recent design & packaging work with Cliché, a new seltzer brand from critically-acclaimed winemakers Dave Phinney and Joe Wagner, which launched today. Public Address is the Toronto-based design and creative studio behind projects from FIFA, Netflix, the LA 2028 Olympics, Gallo wines, and more.
The brand’s stark black and white color palette frames the crisp fruit photography and iconic red lips. As for the name, Dave and Joe came up with Cliché themselves, as a comment on the wildly growing category, as well as a challenge to themselves to make sure they were adding something new and personal. Elevated without being stuffy, the brand makes it clear that it’s possible to make a seltzer that appeals to the natural wine crowd as much as it does the tailgate crowd.
With this in mind, the PA team worked closely with Dave and Joe to develop a brand design system inspired as much by the scrappy skate and surf magazines the pair grew up reading, as the contemporary art galleries they love today. A few key design details: —With so many brands leaning into light, bright, care-free packaging and identities, PA saw an opportunity to be purposefully different. The cans purposefully lack the rainbow of colors typically seen in the seltzer section — from the first moment you see it, it’s obvious that Cliché is not just another seltzer.
Through their many wine and spirit brands, Cliché founders Dave and Joe have a long track record of successfully subverting expectations on taste and design. With Cliché, they experimented with over 100 blends before they found a combination of wine, bubbles, and natural flavors they felt proud enough to put their names on. Creating a seltzer that felt fit to be included on a restaurant’s by the glass list (their goal) required a brand identity that went against every category trend — this couldn’t be just another bright, colorful can.
To launch the brand, PA developed a campaign featuring a bold, crushed can, creating sculptural silhouettes against the white backdrop. Alongside the campaign, the team developed a brand video, featuring Dave and Joe, a website, and social media and influencer package.
