We can’t say for sure that what’s in all these bottles is going to be particularly smooth, but we can tell you this: the bottle designs certainly are! We show you 16 creative alcohol packaging designs, so you can write off a night of lonely drinking as industry research.
1. Monteith’s Single Source Lager Beer
This New Zealand lager has a classy, minimalist look, and the back label features a QR code. That’s one geek-friendly bottle of beer!
Designer: Designworks
2. Golan Brewery
These beer bottles were designed for Israel’s Golan Brewery. I haven’t seen a lot of modern Hebrew typography work, but the combination of type and colors is almost like a more subdued and subtle version of a loud Japanese product.
Designer: Blend-It
3. Brooklyn Gin
This incredible design features a metal-stamped label that gives it Brooklyn’s grittiness and the bottle itself “pays homage to the apothecary origins of gin,” according to the designers.
Designer: Spring Design Partners
4. Armand de Brigniac Champagne
Gold-plated champagne bottles. What more needs to be said?
5. Paso Port Wine Company
Paso Port Wine Company’s package design features a pin-up girl theme on black with gold trimming. It looks as vintage as it does modern.
Designer: iii DESiGN
6. Chase Vodka
Chase Vodka is an English potato vodka with a simple but pleasing bottle.
7. Licor Beirão Limited Edition
This premium edition of one of Portugal’s most popular liquors was produced in a limited batch of 1,000, with each bottle in the batch clearly numbered. The designer’s job was to give the bottle the feel of exclusivity warranted by the batch count and make it an attractive addition to a collector’s shelf.
Designer: NTGJ Design
8. Vinkara Fun & Playful
This absolutely minimalist bottle still achieves the light-hearted feel the name implies thanks to clever type choices.
Designer: Ned Wright
9. Textual
I love the way Textual has used inkless debossing on these wine labels.
Designer: Yanez Gioia Design
10. Colier
Only five of these premium limited edition Colier wines were made with handmade bottle and cocoon container.
Designer: Reynolds & Reyner
11. 3 Acres
These 3 Acres labels feature a vibrancy of color rarely seen on wine shelves, and the textures enhance their depth. This is definitely one of my favorite wine labels.
Designer: Hannah Aubrey
12. Chopin Vodka
Bearing the face of one of history’s greatest pianists, this bottle of vodka features a double-walled insulating plastic finish that keeps the bottle cold for up to two hours. Practical design can still look stunning.
Designer: { c / c }
13. Grimm Brothers Brewhouse
These beer labels each illustrate a scene from one of the Grimm Brothers’ folk tales with a twist. These bottles make beer look playful, so hide them from your children.
Designer: The Tenfold Collective
14. Bogotá Beer Company
These Bogotá Beer Company labels remind me of vintage advertisements, but in color. It’s a very bold design.
Designer: Lip
15. Espolón Tequila
This modern packaging from a traditional Mexican tequila producer uses cartoons to tell Mexican cultural stories.
16. Pistonhead Beer
Continuing the theme of cartoon-adorned alcohol packaging, Pistonhead Beer features a flaming skull, varying the colors for different varieties of beer.
Designer: Jensen Pamp McCann
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