Stranger & Stranger has redefined the craft spirits scene once again with their botanical label designs for “Astraea Gin” by Astraea LLC. Inspired by the Pacific Northwest’s wild landscapes, where ocean, mountains, and forests meld into dreamlike landscapes, each gin variant—Mist, Meadow, Ocean, and Forest—is a narrative in itself. Crafted by one of the few female distillers in the US, these gins use local botanicals, mirroring the essence of their surroundings. The packaging, from its tall, anticategory bottle to a harmonious blend of intricate illustrations and nature-based color codes, captures the region’s natural inspiration in every bottle. This design celebrates the beauty of nature and highlights the innovative spirit of Astraea Gin in the crowded spirits market. Learn insights on their creative process below.
By: Kevin Shaw
Astraea Gin is rooted in the Pacific Northwest and finds the best local botanicals to use in their meticulously crafted gins. Provenance is key to their unique offering of four gins with aromas and flavors inspired by the landscape surrounding them: Mist, Meadow, Ocean, and Forest.
With such craft and obsession with detail going into every bottle, we developed a design system that allows us to tell a rich visual story but gives us all the flexibility we might need for these and future expressions.
Meticulous illustrations by the appropriately named Ella Ginn highlight the botanicals in each bottle, along with elements of local fauna, and a rich palette of suitable colorways clearly delineates each flavor profile on the label and neckband. The branding type is suitably ethereal with nods to craft movements while the addition of a small symbol and ‘ad astra sequor’ mission statement recognizes the stellar aspirations of the founder and master distiller Danielle Leavell. These elements are given layered or sculpted embosses to reinforce the depths in the spirits and printed onto an off-white textured stock which reinforces an old-school quality about the brand.
The glass needed to give us a large canvas to work on and, as the gin sector is getting increasingly crowded, we’re always looking for ways to stand out. The tall bottle allows the brand to literally stand head and shoulders above the competition while the stamped wooden stopper adds the final point of quality.
Stranger & Stranger was founded in 1994 to specialize in alcoholic beverage packaging. The agency is now one of the leading firms in the field with studios in London, New York, and San Francisco, and advises everyone from huge corporations like Bacardi and Constellation all the way down to one-man startups. Stranger labels up over a billion bottles and cans every year, winning hundreds of awards along the way, and has created brands worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
