Spirits · 2022
Bottling the smoke.
- Client
- Umbra Mezcal
- Year
- 2022
- Services
- Brand Identity, Packaging, E-commerce, Art Direction
The brief
An artisanal mezcal producer wanted a brand worthy of a spirit aged in the dark — premium, mysterious, and a world away from the festival-tequila aesthetic.
Our approach
We made shadow the hero. The label is a near-invisible deboss that only catches the light at an angle; the e-commerce experience uses a moving spotlight that you, the visitor, control. The brand rewards curiosity and patience — exactly like the spirit.
The brief
Escape the loud agave shelf.
The category is bright and loud. Umbra is slow, smoky and dark. The brand had to feel collectible — the bottle you keep after it's empty.
The idea
Hide the label in the dark.
A deboss that only reveals itself at an angle, in the right light. The product becomes an object of discovery, not a billboard on a shelf.
The build
A site lit by the visitor.
We built a storefront where a single light source follows the cursor, washing across renders of the bottle — so every visit is a small act of looking closer.
Outcomes
What changed.
The work is judged by what it moved — not by how it looked in a deck. Here is what the system did once it was live.
- Average order value vs. category
- x3.2Average order value vs. category
- Bottle 'kept' (survey)
- 92%Bottle 'kept' (survey)
- Pentawards packaging, 2022
- GoldPentawards packaging, 2022
People hold the bottle to the light to find the name. That single gesture sells the whole spirit.
Next project
Aperture
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