Branding & Packaging for Craftwell Cocktails

The perfect blend of great taste and strong branding quickly propels Craftwell to the top.

OVERVIEW

Drawing upon our extensive experience in packaging design for alcoholic beverages, Jackrabbit was the perfect match for the branding and packaging design of an exciting new brand in the Ready-to-Drink (RTD) category. Craftwell Cocktails, inspired by the spirit of the Pacific Northwest, are wonderfully flavorful wine-based cocktails in a convenient can, crafted with real fruit to deliver an authentic cocktail experience and exceptional taste.

While the RTD category is experiencing rapid growth in the U.S. alcohol beverage industry, it has typically been dominated by flavored malt beverages and hard seltzers. However, this category has expanded to include spirit and wine-based drinks. What gives Craftwell Cocktails a particular advantage is it can be distributed as a wine product, allowing it to be sold at retail locations where spirit-based RTDs are not permitted. This presented an exciting opportunity for us to create branding for Craftwell that would make a significant impact in the market.

SOLUTIONS

Logo Design

Our design of the Craftwell Cocktails logo captures the essence of the Pacific Northwest region while communicating the spirit of their unique cocktail offerings. Modern, clean, and memorable, this logo effortlessly connects with the PNW aesthetic. At its core, a special symbol takes center stage, depicting an outline of a cocktail glass, surrounded by three iconic evergreen trees, three mountain peaks, and a sun adorned with three stripes. The self-contained circular format makes the logo easy to apply across a variety of packaging and marketing pieces.

Packaging Design for Craftwell Cocktails

Craftwell Cocktails, brought to you by the amazing folks at 2 Towns Ciderhouse in Oregon, are all about delivering high-quality liquids and the tastiest drinks around. With this dedication to quality and real fruit flavor in mind, it became crucial for Jackrabbit to successfully convey the vibrant fruits in a visually compelling and engaging way through the packaging design. As a key differentiator, the fruit visuals are an important part of the final packaging design, used in a prominent way to express the brand’s ability to deliver flavor, fun, and energy.

Label Design for Aluminum Cans

The primary packaging for Craftwell Cocktails would be 12 oz. aluminum cans, which consumers would enjoy direct from the can or poured over ice and served in a traditional cocktail glass. The brand would launch with four core flavors: Pineapple Margarita, Grapefruit Paloma, Blueberry Cosmo, and Strawberry Margarita with the potential to add flavors down the road. Jackrabbit expertly designed the full visual brand architecture, beginning with these four eye-catching can designs. Of course, it was also important that the label designs meet all state and federal labeling requirements.

Craftwell Cocktails series of 4 different flavored cans on top of a bed of ice

Packaging Design for 4-Packs

The secondary packaging would be wrapped 4-pack outer cartons, designed to be a visual extension of the primary packaging. The art style of the graphics is considered “mixed media” in that it visually combines multiple art mediums, styles, and treatments together to achieve the end result. One art treatment we’ve incorporated into the fruit graphics is the use of a black halftone dot pattern for the fruits layered with solid vector shapes. The elements are intentionally loose, layered, and scaled in a playful way, adding to the feel of the hand-crafted, creative energy. When multiple packs of the same flavor are displayed on the shelf side-by-side, the graphics visually align across packs, successfully creating a larger billboard effect.

Craftwell Cocktails series of 4 different flavored 4-packs packaging design on top of a cooler

Craftwell Party Pack Design

Offering larger 8-packs of multiple flavors in the RTD category is essential to the consumer. These packs provide consumers a convenient and cost-effective option to stock up on the most popular Craftwell Cocktail flavors, ensuring ample supply for parties and larger gatherings. Jackrabbit’s design of the Craftwell Party Pack fits within the overall brand identity that we’ve established and successfully combines multiple flavors in a single pack.

Packaging design for Craftwell Cocktail's Party Pack 8-pack Pineapple Margarita

Brand Guidelines

Once the full visual identity was created, Jackrabbit equipped the client with brand guidelines, so that each new application of the brand going forward would be consistent and remain on track. We documented the brand story, vision, and voice as well as the main elements of the visual identity system and how to use them. The document is meant to be used as the brand bible, ensuring that the brand remains strong, consistent, and impactful as it grows. It includes basic logo usage, brand colors, and typography as well as identifies all the key brand assets and graphics.

gold, silver, and bronze awards from 2022 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, bronze from New York World Wine & Spirits Competition, and silver and bronze from Las Vegas Global Wine Awards

MAKING A BIG, FLAVORFUL SPLASH

In less than 8 months after launching in the Pacific Northwest, Craftwell Cocktails became the #1 ready-to-drink canned cocktail in the state of Oregon, #4 and climbing in Washington state, and has expanded to distribute in Colorado. In less than two months after the brand launched, it won four prestigious awards from San Francisco World Spirits Competition across its complete line of canned cocktails: 1) Strawberry Margarita – Gold, 2) Blueberry Cosmo – Gold, 3) Pineapple Margarita – Silver, and 4) Grapefruit Paloma – Bronze.

“This recognition from the SFWSC so soon after launch is a fantastic testament to our core values of prioritizing real fruit and quality ingredients,” said Nels Jewell-Larsen, co-owner. “We take great pride in our work and are delighted with these results.”