Challenge

In 2014, The Surrey Hills Distillery opened in Surrey, England, with the aim of selling their first bottles of gin within a year. During this ambitious timeframe, they needed a distillery brand, a premium gin brand, bottle design and set of visual guidelines for their product which would make a splash in an increasingly crowded spirits category.

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Insights

Recognising the need for rigour at speed, Seymorpowell's strategy and creative teams worked in parallel to develop brand positioning and creative concepts for the distillery brand name and identity. In an extremely competitive spirits category, the four founders wanted to avoid the Victoriana clichés seen in artisan craft spirits at the time. Drawing inspiration from the head distiller’s background and ethos, we landed on the brand essence of ‘Instinctive Precision’: a brand essence that would drive the creative execution of all brand elements.

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Outcome

The name of both the distillery and the eponymous gin comes from the spring-fed pool which the distillery overlooks. The Silent Pool became a source of inspiration: an evocative name and a setting of natural beauty. The intriguing colours of the water and the folklore surrounding it is best embodied in the bottle design itself, where an intricate and precise pattern woven from the 24 botanicals of the gin recipe is entwined with elements of the legend of a maiden who drowned in the waters of the pool. The bottle’s vivid colour creates impact at shelf and is inspired by the distinctive opalescent aqua colours of the pool’s water. This unique landmark, paired with a directive brand essence, quickly turned a local landmark into a full-blown legend for the brand.