Idea development

Hoxton Gin

Hoxton Gin is a gin created by Mixologist Gerry Calabrese who used to own a bar called the Hoxton Pony. This Gin differs in that it features flavourings such as coconut, grapefruit, juniper, iris, tarragon and Ginger. The target audience for this brand is ultimately hipsters who are involved in creative industries and are up for trying something new. This is another example of how new flavours are encouraging a younger generation of gin drinkers.

Immersed in the creative juices of Hoxton, he had the idea of recreating a classic; to create a fun Gin that's like no other on the market. One that's smooth, easy and different from the rest. With this in mind, the owner Gerry Calabrese created Hoxton Gin. After several attempts at the ideal recipe, he had a brainwave: A gin that takes the classic Juniper driven character and adds something exotic. Wicked! Distilled with coconut and grapefruit, Hoxton Gin is uniquely smooth and rounded – opening up Gin to a whole new world of drinking and cocktail possibilities. Hoxton Gin.

Edgerton Original Pink Dry Gin

• Relatively new gin
• First Pink Gin distilled and bottled in London
• Special ingredient - Damiana ( a Mexican herb traditionally given to honeymoon couples but chosen here for its smoky-minty overtones ) and Grains of Paradise ( a prized gingery pepper said in medieval times to be gathered at dusk from the rivers that flowed out of Eden! ).
• Original London pink gin cocktail was called 'London Snog'

Hendricks Horseless Carriage of Curiosities

Hendricks Horseless Carriage of Curiosities is a pop up bar that moves around featuring at festivals and other events. This physical interactive representation of the brand helps to create and atmosphere that Hendricks want to achieve as their brand identity. I think that this kind of thing could be proposed as part of the gin identity that I am creating.

Gin Palaces

Research into what a gin palace is :

• A gin palace is an English name originally for a lavish bar selling gin, later transferred by association to late Victorian Pubs designed in a similar style.
• In the 18th century, gin shops ('dram shops') were just small shops (often originally chemists due to medical associations)  that sold gin mostly to take away, or to drink standing up. 

• In the late 1820s the first 'Gin Palaces' were built, Thompson and Fearon's in Holborn and Weller's in Old Street.

• They were based on the new fashionable shops being built at the time, fitted out at great expense and lit by gas lights.

• They were thought to be vulgar at the time, although hugely popular. 

• Charles Dickins described them as "perfectly dazzling when contrasted with the darkness and dirt we have just left…" in his Sketches by Boz. 

Illustration from Sketches by Boz :

• The design hugely influenced all aspects of the design of later Victorian pubs.

• even after gin had declined in importance as a drink; the bar in pubs is based on the shop counter of the gin palace, designed for swift service and ideal for attaching beer pumps.

• The term has survived for any pub in the late 19th century style; as this was the peak of pub building in Britain the style has become associated with the pub, even though none of the original gin palaces survive.

• Well preserved examples of the late 19th century style include the Princess Louise in Holborn and the Philharmonic Dining Rooms in Liverpool. 

Princess Louise in Holborn :

(Various Sources)

Gin repositions itself

This article from last year explains how Greenalls celebrated its anniversary with a revamp of its packaging hoping to attract a new generation of gin drinkers using a bolder crisper logo. In my opinion this design successfully makes the brand look more contemporary but doesn't necessarily attract a younger audience.

August 16th 2011

G&J Greenall’s London Dry Gin is celebrating its 250th anniversary with a new look and repositioning strategy courtesy of brand and design consultancy, Dragon Rouge. With the repositioning, the company hopes to attract a new generation of gin drinkers. A bold and clean logo replaces the old script one and rests prominently on a contemporary dark green square label. "The Great British Spirit since 1761" at the bottom of the front panel reassures customers of its tradition. A proprietary green abstract "Union Jack" on the inside back label acknowledges the brand’s heritage, but provides an edgy new look and feel.

According to David Jenkins, Dragon Rouge, "The objective was to create a new visual identity and package design to increase shelf impact, build awareness and appeal to a new generation of gin drinkers. We started by defining the brand essence as, ‘The Great British Spirit,’ which directly references the brand’s origins and traditions and then focused on creating a new visual identity that combines tradition and heritage, but with a modern twist.”



Article can be found at Food and Beverage : Marketing Insights into Packaging Solutions.

Hendrix Gin

From the research I have done so far I think that Hendrix stands out as a brand that I should look at more closely. Unlike its contemporaries at the time of its arrival on the market, it featured new exciting flavours such as cucumber and bulgarian rose petals. This separated it from the crowd and it became incredible popular purely because it offered some new flavours. Until this point most Gin recipes consisted of the same ingredients only in different quantities. Hendrix remains an incredibly popular gin particularly with the gin revival of 2011. Gin is my tipple of choice and Hendrix is my poison (if someone else is paying) which I think says something seeing as I am very much part of the target market for this brief.

I think that their brand identity is an additional attraction to the brand. It satisfies the concept of 'curiosity' which is something from my research that appeals to the target audience. I think that the contemporary style of illustration helps to attract the younger clientele. This informs my decision to use contemporary hand rendered type as the main aesthetic for this brief.

London's got a thing for gin

Article in London's Evening Standard 

9th May 2011

There is a tipple taking off in London. According to London's top mixologists, gin is back and Londoners, including Alexa Chung, Matt Horne of Gavin and Stacey and Agyness Deyn's fashion designer sister Emily, are lapping it up, and parties are being held in its honour.

Such is the sudden ascendance of the spirit that JJ Goodman, cocktail creator at the London Cocktail Club, believes vodka has had its day.

"It's all about gin these days but gin with botanicals, infused with things like coriander, lemon and orris root. There is a whole generation of people who might have been into alcopops before but whose palates have matured and they now want something different. Underground cocktail bars in London are recreating that gin-palace vibe, pubs are increasing their back-bar selection of good gins like No 3, Chase, Sipsmith and Bombay Sapphire, and even the royal wedding has made people want something good and British to get stuck into."

As well as private dinner parties, young drinkers are imbibing the stuff at literary festivals and, later this month, the quirky bar and eccentric dining room the Hendrick's Horseless Carriage of Curiosities will appear at Brighton's Festival Fringe.

In east London, gin fan Gerry Calabrese, the 28-year-old owner of über-cool hangout The Hoxton Pony, agrees that the spirit's history makes it an ultimately British drink. Last week he launched his super-sweet coconut and grapefruit-infused Hoxton Gin with a night-long party where guests scooped up glasses of gin cocktails mixed with cranberry juice.

"You can't get more British than gin. It's steeped in hundreds of years of history. But the vodka-and-mixer drinkers are waning," says Calabrese.

"People are now prepared to be more adventurous. We wanted something for the modern drinker, and you can knock this back as shots, drink it alone or mix it for cocktails. It works well with ginger beer, too, and the celebs are catching on."

Meanwhile, recently launched Edgerton's Original Pink Gin, which gets its rosy hue from extract of pomegranate, is becoming popular in Soho and, in the Sipsmith microdistillery in Hammersmith, co-founder Sam Galsworthy has seen more than 4,500 Londoners through his doors since it launched two years ago, including 30 for a pop-up restaurant party held inside the distillery. "It is surprising bartenders but there really is a gin revival right now," he says. "Gin distilling appeals to a set of drinkers who want to learn how it's made and regale the other guests at dinner parties. Also, martinis are back - people are trying different things, long drinks, short drinks. But these are discerning drinkers and importantly they want substance over style, they don't want a brand," he argues.

Indeed, today's gin is by no means generic. Damian Barr, who organises literary salons for under-35s at Shoreditch House, gives his guests Hendrick's gin on arrival. He agrees that while it used to be considered an "old lady's drink", "brands like Hendrick's and Sipsmith are showing that it can be more nuanced, more flexible. People want flavour, like the cucumber in Hendrick's. It is a very different product to the one we grew up drinking with our parents."

Galsworthy, too, is defiant: "People talk about the versatility of vodka but I won't have anyone saying gin doesn't have the same quality.

Londoners are always looking for something new to celebrate and right now gin is it."

Full article can be found at This is London.

Gin, also known as Mothers Ruin

I read this really interesting article about the effects of Gin on 18th Century England gave me some ideas as for the brand identity I am building for the gin. I want the identity to take on a lighthearted potentially humorous tone of voice to appeal to the younger market that for which it is intended. I think that its relatively well known past as a tormentor of its victims could be an interesting concept if used in a comical way. 

Notes from article :

• Gin was the drug of choice of the mig-eighteenth century - 'the effects of gin-drinking on English society makes the use of drugs today seem almost benign'.

• Gin started out as a medicine - it was thought it could be a cure for gout and indigestion.

• It was cheap and therefore popular among the poor.

• Signs in 1730's London used to read 'Drunk for 1 penny, Dead drunk for tuppence, Straw for nothing'

• In London alone, there were more than 7,000 'dram shops' - booze shops/bars

• 10 million gallons of gin were being distilled annually in London

• Gin was drunk by barbers, pedlars, and grocers and even sold on market-stalls

• some workers were given gin as part of their wages. Duty paid on gin was 2 pence a gallon, as opposed to 4 shillings and nine pence on strong beer.

• The average person could not afford French wines or brandy, so gin took over as the cheapest, and most easily obtained, strong liquor.

• Gin rendered men impotent, and women sterile, and was a major reason why the birth rate in London at this time was exceeded by the death rate.

• The government of the day became alarmed when it was found that the average Londoner drank 14 gallons of spirit each year - so increased tax on gin.

• this put many reputable sellers out of business, and made way for the 'bootleggers' who sold their wares under such fancy names as Cuckold's Comfort, Ladies Delight and Knock Me Down - became a black market.

• Much of the gin was drunk by women, consequently the children were neglected, daughters were sold into prostitution, and wet nurses gave gin to babies to quieten them. This worked provided they were given a large enough dose.

• People would do anything to get gin…a cattle drover sold his eleven-year-old daughter to a trader for a gallon of gin, and a coachman pawned his wife for a quart bottle.

• Gin was the opium of the people, it led them to the debtors' prison or the gallows, ruined them, drove them to madness, suicide and death, but it kept them warm in winter, and allayed the terrible hunger pangs of the poorest.

• In 1736 a Gin Act was passed which forbade anyone to sell 'Distilled spirituous liquor' without first taking out a licence costing £50.

• In the seven years following 1736, only three £50 licences were taken out, yet the gallons of gin kept coming.

• The thirst for gin appeared insatiable. People sold their furnishings and even their homes to get money to buy their favourite tipple.

William Hogarth's Gin Lane (1751)

 

• The horror of the situation in London was portrayed in a print by Hogarth called 'Gin Lane'. This shows a drunken woman with ulcerated legs, taking snuff as her baby falls into the gin-vault below. 

• Henry Fielding, author of the book 'Tom Jones', also delivered a pamphlet to the government stating his protest against the perpetual drunkenness of the Londoners.

• Once again the government was forced into action. A new 'Gin Act' was passed which raised the duty on drink and forbade the distillers, grocers, chandlers, jails and workhouses from selling gin.

• Gin was never again quite so much of a scourge and consumption fell dramatically through the rest of the eighteenth century.

Full article available at Historic UK.

List of existing Gins

Older Brands :

First wave

1761 Greenhalls
1769 Gordans
1793 Plymouth

Second wave

1830 Tanquery
1863 Beefeater
1867 Gilbeys

More modern Gin's

1987 Bombay Saphire
1999 Martin Miller
2000 Hendrix - made using extracts of cucumber as well as the traditional ingredients
2002 Leopolds
2006 Blue
2010 G'Vine - made from grapes rather than traditional grain
Both around 1993 -
Junipero Gin
Genevieve Gin - both based on original Dutch recipes from 16th Century

Really New Gin's

Edgerton Original Pink Dry Gin
Hoxton Gin
No 3 Gin

The Ginstitute

Radio 4 - Gin and Botanicals

I listened to this BBC Radio 4 program called 'Gin and Botanicals'  about Gin and it's origins as well as the distilling process. The program also discusses the new wave of gin drinkers and new artisan small distilleries emerging all over the country as a result.

Synopisis : 

Dan Saladino explores the past, present and future of the most British of drinks, gin. And hears how a new generation of distillers is testing the boundaries of an old and familiar flavour.

For decades vodka was the spirit of choice, not just for James Bond, but also for bartenders and mixologists (a recent term for the people who develop new drink recipes and cocktails). But more recently people have been reaching out for more interesting and complex flavours to replace the neutral taste of vodka. Gin was perfect.

From as far back as the 12th century apothecaries had used juniper and its coniferous flavours in spirits to heal and revive. By the 17th century the Dutch had given us Geneva or Holland Gin, a rough, whisky like spirit with juniper at its base. As distilling techniques developed in the 19th century it became the refined gin we know today with juniper flavours being delicately mixed with botanicals like coriander, cinnamon, ginger and Orris.

It's the challenge of blending and experimenting with these flavours that has attracted a new generation of gin distillers. Dan Saladino explains the history that has made this 21st century gin craze possible and finds out what is now drawing people to what was once Britain's most notorious drink.

Producer: Dan Saladino.

My notes from listening to the program : 

inital brainstorm

Gin Identity

BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN			LEVEL		06
Module Code	OUGD303		Semester
Module Title			Doc. Code	OUGD30

	Brief/Session/Document Title Gin Identity
	Brief
	Create a new identity and promotion for a gin brand to cater for a new generation of gin drinkers using hand drawn lettering as the main design aesthetic.
	Background / Considerations
	It has come of a surprise to bartenders all over Britain, but over the last year there has been a gin revival. It has become a drink popular with 18-25 year old Londoners in particular including celebrities, making it once again fashionable. This new modern audience is altogether more adventurous, fun seeking in search of new flavours and experiences. Gin has notoriously had a rocky relationship with the British, with fashionable highs and notorious lows; adoration followed by controversy. However it is this reputation that ha The new identity should be The vast majority of the current market is made up of the old classic brands. This new identity needs to stand out from the crowd in an aesthetic sense as well as grasping the attention of a younger audience than the original gin drinking audience.
Mandatory Requirements		Deliverables
	Drinkers must not be encouraged to drink irresponsibly.	Identity including logo, lettering, bottle design. Advertising in the form proposed printed and digital media.
	Studio Deadline	Module Deadline
		Wednesday 30th May 2012
	This brief should be read in conjunction with the module brief. Please refer to module information at E-STUDIO for module brief, submission deadline, graded outcomes and further reading.

James Clapham

Jo Ratcliffe

I read about this designer on Craig Wards words are pictures blog as a lettering artist that he personally envies. Now I have looked, I feel equal envy towards Jo. 

Animated lettering :

The work that Jo has done for Vogue is directly relevant for my own editorial lettering brief.

Some 1940's type that I like....

Yanko Tsvetkov

These satirical maps are by designer Yanko Tsventkov and were featured in the Guardian last week. I really like the strong concept behind the maps, although I think that they could be better aesthetically, especially in terms of the colour palette and type choices.

Tim Dowlings interview with Yanko Tsvetkov :

There is nothing quite as obsolete as an out-of-date map: untrustworthy, suspect, politically incorrect. An atlas that still has Czechoslovakia on it may be historically interesting, but it illustrates a world that no longer exists. Change is constant: new countries spring into being, population centres shift, capitals are shunted from one place to another. With every adjustment, another map is rendered useless.

Why not map ignorance instead? In a fast-changing world, national stereotypes remain remarkably stable. View the globe from an American perspective and you can still get away with labelling the whole of Russia "Commies". If nothing else, it saves you having to spell Tajikistan.

The Mapping Stereotypes project is the work of Yanko Tsvetkov, a graphic artist who also goes by the name Alphadesigner. Tsvetkov has lived all over Europe, but back in 2009 when he got the idea to produce maps charting prevailing stereotypes, he was still in his native Bulgaria.

"There was a gas crisis, a pretty harsh winter, and we were a little bit cold," he says. His first map posited a Europe made up of competing interests and reductive presumptions. Russia is simply labelled "Paranoid Oil Empire". Most of the EU comes under the heading "Union Of Subsidised Farming". Turkey has been renamed "No YouTube Land" and where Georgia should be it says "Armed Winegrowers". He titled the map Where I Live and put it up on his website.

"People started leaving comments about it," Tsvetkov says. "People I didn't know. And then, by the unknown laws of the internet, it got quite popular." Tsvetkov realised this could be the beginning of a larger project. He made a map of "The World According To Americans", with Kazakhstan renamed "Borat", the Falklands marked "British Riviera" and all of North Africa summarised as "Fucking Desert, Dude". His map of Berlusconi's worldview is both hilariously vulgar and, one suspects, not far wide of the mark. No matter where you're from, you should be able to find something here to offend you.

To add to his growing collection, Tsvetkov has created two new maps for the Guardian, one titled The Arab Winter and the other Crystal Ball View Of Europe In 2022. In the former, Algeria has been renamed "Gaddafi's Sperm Bank" ("Because most of his family ran away to Algeria," Tsvetkov says, "so it's like a sperm bank for the preservation of his legacy"). In the latter a smaller territory in northern Italy has been coloured orange and labelled "Gays". "The region around Rome will be under gay occupation," he says, "because at some point all gay people will get tired of Pope Benedict's homophobic remarks and will invade the city to shut his mouth for ever." Most of the references are self-explanatory, although a working knowledge of geography (or, in my case, an old atlas with Czechoslovakia on it) comes in handy.

Tsvetkov himself is nowhere near as narrow-minded as his maps. He speaks several languages, currently lives in Spain and feels comfortable throughout Europe. "I have friends in most major European countries," he says. "I work as a designer, so we are a big community. We're like the European ideal." Has his cosmopolitanism also made him an expert on local prejudices and stereotypes? "Yes, there are things that you can only perceive when you are among the people, but the internet helps."

Tsvetkov has also lived in London, and in his Europe In 2022 map the UK (minus Scotland) is called Passive Aggressive Kingdom, a nickname that stems from David Cameron's recent refusal to sign an EU treaty. "It refers to the British way of thinking about Europe," Tsvetkov says. "It doesn't want to have much to do with the continent, but it wants to have a say. It's about wanting to achieve something by not doing anything."

Arguably these maps could do as much to reinforce stereotypes as ridicule them, but their primary purpose is to entertain. "If there is a serious problem, I prefer to present it in a funny say," Tsvetkov says. "I think there is enough serious coverage, and loads of people who can analyse it way better than I can."