9 Gorgeous Pieces Of Hand-Lettered Art

9 Gorgeous Pieces Of Hand-Lettered Art

Lately there’s an onslaught of locally sourced, small-batch, artisanal goods. The packaging of those products is seeing its own old-time resurgence, with carefully-considered branding that includes a revival of hand-lettered graphics.

9 Gorgeous Pieces Of Hand-Lettered Art

Outside the Box: Hand-Drawn Packaging from Around the World, a new book by graphic designer Gail Anderson, shows how a twist of a talented wrist helps basic packaging transform into alluring, intriguing design specimens. Not only do these types of graphics communicate value — your eye can immediately register the evidence of a human’s touch in that hand-scrawled type, for example — but they also set aside these products from the other purely computer-generated boxes on the shelf.

Of course, it’s not just those folksy purveyors who rely on craft lettering. Big companies have gotten in on the act as well, employing hand-drawn elements to help consumers forget for a moment that they’re purchasing something mass-produced. Here’s how nine brands are taking advantage of the hand-drawn trend to make their products stand out, with some behind-the-scenes sketches that show the work that goes into every last letter.


Chipotle

9 Gorgeous Pieces Of Hand-Lettered Art

Design firm: Sequence

Hand letterer Anna Tou’s work can be seen across the entire Chipotle branding system, on everything from cups to walls.

9 Gorgeous Pieces Of Hand-Lettered Art



Evil Spirits

9 Gorgeous Pieces Of Hand-Lettered Art

Design firm: Saint Bernadine Mission Communications Inc. / Illustrator: Jennifer Hicks

Inspiration for Evil Spirits vodka comes from Ouija boards, and was born from the idea that alcohol was considered evil in the Prohibition era.

9 Gorgeous Pieces Of Hand-Lettered Art


G’NOSH

9 Gorgeous Pieces Of Hand-Lettered Art

Design firm: Mystery Ltd. / Hand letterer: Phil Seddon

G’NOSH typography is hand painted onto black cards before being scanned and isolated in Adobe Photoshop, where the final brand environment is composed.

9 Gorgeous Pieces Of Hand-Lettered Art


Julaquavit

9 Gorgeous Pieces Of Hand-Lettered Art

Agency: Communicatering

Martin Schmetzer’s precision shines on a project that turned out to be a labour of love. For this project, he drew his rough sketches slightly more tightly than he usually would to “do my vision and concept more justice,” he says.

9 Gorgeous Pieces Of Hand-Lettered Art


Nuts.com

9 Gorgeous Pieces Of Hand-Lettered Art

Design firm: Pentagram / Illustrator: Christoph Niemann

The original NutsOnline.com packaging is paired with its updated counterpart by illustrator Christoph Niemann. The difference is striking.


Nagging Doubt

9 Gorgeous Pieces Of Hand-Lettered Art

Design firm: Tanamachi Studio

The Nagging Doubt wine labels were created by letterer Dana Tanamachi-Williams on a 4′ x 7′ chalkboard, then photographed and reduced to size. The QR code in the corner of the label links to a time-lapse video of the work being created.


Partizan Brewing

9 Gorgeous Pieces Of Hand-Lettered Art

Illustrator: Alec Doherty

Alec Doherty has illustrated more than 150 labels for London’s Partizan Brewing. Futura’s clear, geometric shapes often provide the underlying framework for Doherty’s human forms.

9 Gorgeous Pieces Of Hand-Lettered Art

Captions provided by Princeton Architectural Press

Top image: The packaging for Jameson’s 2014 limited-edition St. Patrick’s Day bottle uses loose, energetic lettering to capture the “Spirit of Dublin” with the help of familiar phrases overheard on the streets of the city. Agency: Design Bridge / Illustrator: Dermot Flynn


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.