Nikki Steeprock
Nikki Steeprock
Durham Distillery, a craft distillery in North Carolina, focuses on bringing together art and science to create delicious and award-winning products. We aimed to find a shared moment between art and science as a launching point for this brand and landed on the beauty, but also the chaos, that comes from creation.
Illustration, Art Direction, Design
Work completed while at Clean.
The packaging and advertising for Conniption American Dry Gin, the flagship product for Durham Distillery, brings madness and beauty together, while also drawing inspiration from the name of the product. I created custom artwork for the main graphic on the bottle by utilizing the words of a conniption fit and transforming them into an intricate line-work illustration. Similarly, the illustration for the Navy Strength Gin recalls its nautical roots while maintaining the visual style.
The unique, cold distilling method for this Vodka results in a delicate, yet complex flavored vodka, which serves as the inspiration for this packaging design. The circular center nods to the cucumber flavoring, while the triangle and crystalline ice patterns represent cold distillation.
When developing the packaging for Durham Distillery’s new line of cocktails-in-a-can, the first in the state, we knew we needed to make it clear to consumers that these cans contained real liquor. What better way than to capitalize on the brand equity of the existing liquors and to spell out the recipe on the back. The packaging system takes into account an expanding product line, with a structure that allows for new cocktails to be efficiently added to the lineup.