Because I spend 90% of my professional day looking at, talking about, thinking about and making letters, it doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise when a prospective client wonders what else I’m capable of. I sometimes like to joke that I’m a custom-letterer who used to be a graphic designer, but the truth is I’ve always loved a good branding or packaging project, and I’m always ready for another.
Austin Eastciders
In 2011, my friend Ed Gibson hit me up to help him brand his new beverage concept - a premium hard cider he called Gold Top. What followed was a mad, contentious, supercharged mini-marathon of creative endurance and mutual respect. But at the end I think we agreed that we’d turned out something pretty great. It even won a silver Dieline award in its category the following year.
Gold Top was a huge success, and not one to rest in the wake of victory, Ed quickly moved on to a new product - Eastciders Original, which was followed quickly by Hopped, Pineapple, and Texas Honey.
New products continued to be developed, and I was even able to produce a custom Eastciders font based on the lettering I’d created for the packaging. Nearly 13 years later, Austin Eastciders as a brand is still kicking strong.
Tepetán
Another Texas brand that seems sure to stand the test of time. I loved working with the folk at Tepetán to create the branding and packaging for their four beautifully crafted and dangerously moreish cocktail mixers.