L16° Puts Coral-Gazing in a Bottle

Sydney, Australia designer Clay Andrews described his process for creating new packaging for gin brand L16° in a recent Communication Arts article.

L16°, makers of Latitude 16 Organic Dry Gin, are small batch gin makers using the finest organic ingredients, according to the company’s website description. They combine the tradition of gin making with the native botanical flavors of Australia.

According to Andrews, their product came straight from the founders’ genuine passion rather than market analysis. They had fallen in love with a tidal coral cay on Australia’s outer Great Barrier Reef, an extraordinary place where you can only stand a few hours each day. And they wanted to translate that experience into a gin.

This naturally positioned the gin toward spirit drinkers who value craft, meaningful experience, and a genuine sense of place over marketing gimmicks, Andrews says.

Working with a bottle by Vert Design, Andrews and L16° first changed the bottle glass from flint to a very pale aqua. This refinement of colored glass allowed for the movement and iridescence Andrews was looking for.

While avoiding anything literal, the solution created an optical and textural experience that mirrored how light behaves in shallow tropical water.

From there, the team when for a highly technical solution. Layering finishes such as embosses, varnishes, and metallized stock and screen work to create the illusion of looking into water.

The neck label’s ocean green-to-sand gradient references the moment when a wave washes over the shoreline. Even the embossed URL in the bottle base was designed with the idea that any condensation might leave a water-like imprint on surfaces.

Strictly speaking, the biggest challenge of the project was managing the many layers of technical precision involved in getting all the details just right, says Andrews.

But overall, the project flowed smoothly. Which Andrews credits to working in a very human, closely connected way with his L16° clients. A way of working that he describes as “deep collaboration” that allowed for quick movements through decisions while staying deeply connected to the core idea.

This type of process, Andrews says, is what he has found makes the biggest difference to creative outcomes.