Show me the Honey! The growing need for mead inspired Gabriel, the brains behind Tree of Life, to transform his talent into a successful business, brewing sweet honey wine for all of New Zealand.
I love strange beer. Its my passion. Craft beer, strange cider, questionable spirits. I love the excitement and adventure. So when Gabriel approached me to create a label for his newest line of mead, I jumped at the chance. Tree of Life started as the interest of a young Gabriel, bathtub brewing variations on mead in his first rented home. Fast forward 10 years, and the once naive Gabriel is now the Mead making master brewer of Tree of Life.
THE CHALLENGE
Tree of life had everything a start up needs. It had the industrial muscle to make and move product. It had the technical skill of a master brewer, and the up-and-go attitude of a company ready to hit the scene. The only problem was, they didn't have a brand. Elegantly fermented mead sat in plain bottles with its quality and quantity written on with black marker.
This had to change, and fast. The company needed a logo with very specific qualities, and a mock bottle to share with prospective investors. The challenge was the narrative. To create a logo that captured the Norse Traditions, while still containing a subtle reference to New Zealand, and (yes, there is an "and") a reference to the honey that gives mead its delicious flavour.
Meetings would need to be carefully scheduled due to the 12 hour timezone difference between my resident country France and New Zealand.
THE GOAL
To create a logo that delivered on all of the companies key points, that could be beaten and used and still hold up. In early emails Gabriel explained in great length the importance of the meads colour and texture, which lead me to include another goal; highlight these properties.
THE PREPARATION
To overcome this I started with a competition audit (to learn about the industry and my clients position in it). Which proved difficult as it seems Mead is a small industry with a lot of "home made designs". However looking from Oceania to America we see a lot more activity with Mead making surging in the last 3 years.
Tree of life was well aware of there target audience which made building the companies profile a breeze. The company wished to project itself as the approachable, unpretentious, gateway into the world of mead. With a simple bottle design that heralded back to the old English ale labels.
A productive back and forth between myself and Gabriel allowed me to discuss the types and shapes of mead and its bottles.
THE SOLUTION
Norse heritage is a broad narrative, which creates a lot of oppertunity for subtle hints and pointers. Not wanting to be lost in the lore of Vikings I selected a few elements that Gabriel approved: The world serpent, Yggdrasil (the tree of life), and the 9 realms.
Then it was a matter of gathering enough references and mixing them together until some key elements presented themselves. The honey reference was derived from the Viking beehives (similar to what a beehive icon might be). The New Zealand flag would be hinted at through the position of the bees in the pacific cross (seen on the flag and a constipation of the southern hemisphere). Finally Norse element would be the dominant symbol, Yggdrasil. This was shown through the intersecting branches and roots of the tree.
Gabriel was thrilled with the inclusion of all the elements requested. I explained to Gabriel that the logo should be left as one colour. That way the liquid of the bottle would be the background. Highlighting the unique texture and properties of not just mead, but the particular variant.
The label was built from old English ale references. Simple circular shapes, simple to print details, and a one colour image that could rotate from bottle to bottle. The image was taken from the 1800 images of the Poet Edda, a prominent viking story.
In the Norse theme I opted to add the time of fermentation in moons, as was referenced in the original recipes. The product names I decided should reflect the viking heritage. With each variation of mead being named after a corresponding Nordic realm.
The end result was a simple mock-up that reflected the best elements of the logo while highlighting the properties of the mead. A light and dark version where made to demonstrate the flexibility of the packaging.
A final detail was added to the neck of the bottle. The World Serpent was included to circle the cap of the mead. The idea being that a customer would need to cut open the world serpent to get to the mead. A very viking idea with interesting marketing potential.