Dominion Distillery

Veteran creative director Aaron James (Wieden+Kennedy, Apple, Google, BBDO) came to me to help him with a fun challenge. Friends of his had purchased a distillery in the tiny gold rush town of Colville, Washington, and they needed branding that spoke to their love of the locale.

For subject matter, we chose historical iconography of the region: a gold miner, a fire lookout tower, a mule team hauling logs, and a lone mule head.

Our bottles needed to feel as though they had been around for decades, so I softened the edges of all my illustrations in a way consistent with wear and tear of heavily used printing plates.

The finished whiskey and brandy bottles featured hand-stamped leather labels and gold foil batch numbers.

Other handcrafted branded items for the brand launch included bandanas, wooden crates, metal shot glasses, and leather coasters.

Role: Illustrator and Designer
Creative Director and Lead Designer: Aaron James
Agency: MathDept