McTell
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McTell is a beverage company that makes fresh homestyle juices like lemonade and sweet tea. McTell has a long, storied history in the art of creating refreshing beverages. Blind Willie McTell founded McTell in 1897, in the heart of Texas where he grew up. Ever since 1897 McTell has been selling his refreshing drinks to cowboys and gals from all walks of life. McTell has a strong desire to create juices using only the freshest ingredients available.
This project consists of creating a logo for the McTell brand. Also included are guidelines for the logo and the accompanying labels for the various drinks. Following is the package design section that consists of two different packages for two different drink methods. Next are a series of outdoor adverts for the lemonade drink line. And lastly are some additional assets I produced that the company could also branch out to.
BRANDING
Research
Since this company has been around for a long while I wanted the logo to achieve a look that would reflect that. When researching I came across great references of companies that were around during that time, everything from canned bread to insurance companies. It quickly came apparent to me that the style during the turn of the century had a heavy Victorian influence. Lots of the inspiration I found was very ornate looking, tons and tons of added features like lines swirls and ribbon shapes. Because this company had a Wild West theme, I thought it would be important to go through pop culture examples depicting the Wild West to find inspiration. I also enjoyed some of the more modern examples that had great balance utilizing less ornate features like the Wild Woods & Wild Theory logos below.
Sketches
When doing some early sketches I messed around with the thought of including a lemon in the logo. The benefits of that obviously being it would easily be recognized as a lemonade company. On the flip side it comes off as little cliché. I also did a few iterations featuring cowboy hats, thinking this would again give explicit explanation as to what the company is about. Throughout many of my sketches are banners, usually wrapping around something like a lemon or a cowboy hat. I felt the banner is an in between way to signify that the company has a long past. Lastly I messed around with some simple cursive, hand drawing iterations of the McTell logo.
Iterations
I did lots of experimenting with slab serif typefaces like Vacer. However I thought that the slab serifs were to cliché for the company and almost a dead give away. This being the case I started to work with hand drawn elements to give it a unique feeling. At first just making the “M” or “T” unique but soon after I started to make the whole logo have a hand drawn feel by making every letter like the previously mentioned letters.
Final Logo
The final logo for McTell achieves a classic look and feel in many ways. Firstly its dull sandy color helps it achieve an old and noble look. I decided that the vibrant colors could I was working with could be better used for the packaging and label development phase of this project. This way the logo will be secondary to the flavor and name of the specific drink. Second way this logo achieves the look I aimed for is its hand drawn feel.
I decided to stick with the hand drawn style for this logo. The leg of the M stretches across the bottom of the rest of the word to give it a fluid, refreshing feel that only an ice-cold glass of lemonade could. The T has a similar flare to create a more fancy feel to the company. The rest of the word has a cursive feel that plays into the authentic western vibe. The combination of color and hand drawn type helps give the company of McTell a very slick shooting western style.
I decided to stick with the hand drawn style for this logo. The leg of the M stretches across the bottom of the rest of the word to give it a fluid, refreshing feel that only an ice-cold glass of lemonade could. The T has a similar flare to create a more fancy feel to the company. The rest of the word has a cursive feel that plays into the authentic western vibe. The combination of color and hand drawn type helps give the company of McTell a very slick shooting western style.
Color Pallete
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PACKAGE DESIGN
Research
When researching for this product I took lots of inspiration from older packaging of drinks. I found many great examples of work that I would like to emulate from older 1920’s advertisements. They have a very ornate feel and use many of the features that scream “Western”, they have ribbons, borders and interesting type treatment. I also found many great stylistic examples from alcohol beverages. For example the “Don Gaby” below makes great use of lines and borders to separate different types of info. On the other hand the “Mr. Black” drink below has a much more ornate and fancy look with its floral line work. The “Snake Oil” example also goes to creates a nice balance between its elements by having the text inside black banner shapes that contrast with the white areas. Lastly I looked for good examples of a line of drinks or a series of flavors. I came across plenty of great examples where different illustrations of ingredients are used to convey the flavor of the drink.
Sketches
Like the logo I want the package design to have an authentic western feel to it. The research and inspiration I gathered helped me figure out the ideal look for the packaging. For the packaging section I intended to create three different drink flavors, all three would have similar features or aspects to their design. All three of the flavors would have their own glass bottle design and a 12 can package. It also goes without saying that the bottles and cans would also have a design.
When doing the initial concept sketches I visualized what some of the scenery of the west would be or feel like. Desolate, warm, cactuses and tumbleweeds. I also played with the idea of different banner styles for the drink flavors. The three drinks I decided to include in this project were basic Lemonade, Peach Lemonade and Sweet Tea. In my sketches I played with the ideas of each flavor having a different landscape illustration.
When doing the initial concept sketches I visualized what some of the scenery of the west would be or feel like. Desolate, warm, cactuses and tumbleweeds. I also played with the idea of different banner styles for the drink flavors. The three drinks I decided to include in this project were basic Lemonade, Peach Lemonade and Sweet Tea. In my sketches I played with the ideas of each flavor having a different landscape illustration.
Dielines
I went to a store and bought a 6-pack and a 12 can case so I could take them apart and use them as a foundation for the die templates in my project. When doing this I found that the 6-pack template was rather complex and took a bit of time to figure out the way it all fit together. The 6-pack bottle template is above; the horizontal bars below it are the divider inserts that go in between each bottle so they don’t clink too much.
This design I made also has a handle cut out that sits above the bottles. The 12 can box on the other hand was far easier to decipher than the bottle packaging. It folds together in a really simple way and has a slot that opens for cans to be taken out. After creating these templates I focused on the design for each piece of packaging.
This design I made also has a handle cut out that sits above the bottles. The 12 can box on the other hand was far easier to decipher than the bottle packaging. It folds together in a really simple way and has a slot that opens for cans to be taken out. After creating these templates I focused on the design for each piece of packaging.
For the design of the packaging I choose to go down the route of creating a western landscape in the colors of the ingredient related to the flavor, the one on this page being the lemonade. Each design of this flavor shows a similar design, the landscape and the informative text.
For these series of designs the main differences lay in the color scheme associated with each flavors and the information pertaining to each of them. I utilized many western design aspects like the hanging sign, lone rider and ornate text for the McTell logo.
For these series of designs the main differences lay in the color scheme associated with each flavors and the information pertaining to each of them. I utilized many western design aspects like the hanging sign, lone rider and ornate text for the McTell logo.
Final Packaging
I built many different variations of these pieces and came away with these being the best. I printed them at my school and built them myself in my garage with spray glue and many hours of cutting and folding. The 6-pack packaging proved to be just as hard to build physically as it was to digitally produce the template. Nonetheless the packaging came out well and certainty captures the Wild West spirit. The nice calm landscape illustration and the vibrant hanging signs helps capture the spirit fairly well. The designs as a whole have a very inviting nature with their bright colors and glossy finish of the packaging.
As for the design of the individual drink vessels, the can and bottle; I decided that it would be best to take a more common type of western style on them. The bottles feature many of the ideal western features like borders, ribbons lines and wavy text. The features of the bottle label changes with each of the flavors. The color and illustration of the ingredient change. Since I couldn’t build a physical can I had to settle with creating a digital mockup of what they could look like. They are very similar to the bottles but have a floral background on the cans.
As for the design of the individual drink vessels, the can and bottle; I decided that it would be best to take a more common type of western style on them. The bottles feature many of the ideal western features like borders, ribbons lines and wavy text. The features of the bottle label changes with each of the flavors. The color and illustration of the ingredient change. Since I couldn’t build a physical can I had to settle with creating a digital mockup of what they could look like. They are very similar to the bottles but have a floral background on the cans.
OTHER PRODUCTS
These are some additional assets that the McTell could produce alongside its refreshing beverages. Every popular drink company has shirts that its customers could buy. Since I could remember there has always been coca cola shirts in the men’s section of kohl’s. These shirts feature some of the artwork from the designs of the packaging and the posters, specifically the lemonade brand. The other shirt design shows the McTell logo with the lemonade branches in a more ornate look.
Surly if you enjoy the drinks that McTell makes you would probably like a nice water bottle to put not only water in but also maybe McTell drinks. The bottle features the same designs found on the lemonade packaging, a nice soothing calm feel. Lastly it would be very ideal for McTell to not only sell its beverages through cans and bottles but also cartons if they wished. This carton is for the Blind Willies lemonade beverage. It features much of the same artwork as the other lemonade packaging so consumers can easily identify the drink in stores.
Surly if you enjoy the drinks that McTell makes you would probably like a nice water bottle to put not only water in but also maybe McTell drinks. The bottle features the same designs found on the lemonade packaging, a nice soothing calm feel. Lastly it would be very ideal for McTell to not only sell its beverages through cans and bottles but also cartons if they wished. This carton is for the Blind Willies lemonade beverage. It features much of the same artwork as the other lemonade packaging so consumers can easily identify the drink in stores.
ADVERTS
Outdoor Adverts
The outdoor adverts for the McTell products have a similar feel as the packaging. Both feature the use of the landscape and the calm demeanor it carries. I think it’s important that they have similar features so people who see these adverts can easily spot the products while in a store. Keeping with the western feel I made the poster very similar to the rest of the brand. I used the same landscape that I used on the bottle and can packaging for these designs. I also used similar line and shape components. These designs would be a good advertisement for showcasing a mood or feeling that is associated with the brand, a relaxing sit on your front porch type of feeling.
