Midday designs a protest-inspired identity for Assembly Gin

Our website uses cookies to improve your user experience. If you continue browsing, we assume that you consent to our use of cookies. More information can be found in our Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy .
The identity incorporates a design from Vocal Type, a foundry which uses protest signs of the past as inspiration for new typefaces.
Midday has designed the protest-inspired identity for Assembly Gin, a new spirit from American distillery Republic Restoratives.

Women-owned and crowdfunded, the distillery aims to “celebrate an outspoken and disruptive attitude towards the production of quality American spirits”, according to its website.


The identity for Assembly hopes to conjure “a voice that speaks up and promotes ‘freedom of assembly’ in the wake of draconian anti-protest bills”, explains Midday creative partner and co-founder Will Gladden. “Freedom of assembly” often refers to people’s right to protest, as outlined in the first amendment of the US Constitution.

This tied into both the distillery’s purpose and also the craft of making the gin by mixing botanical ingredients, explains Gladden. This influenced a guiding principle and tagline for the gin, that it is a “spirit greater than the sum of its parts”.




The design team was inspired by protests and related imagery when building the brand; “the idea of taking a stand and having your voice heard,” Gladden explains.

For example, the typeface is Vocal Type’s Martin (named after Martin Luther King Jr.), which was inspired by 1968’s Memphis sanitation strike. Vocal Type foundry delves into protest signs from history to design bespoke typefaces.


Protest posters – including the famous “I am a man” sign from the 1968 Memphis strike – have inspired the look and feel of Assembly’s branding more widely, explains Gladden.

While Assembly’s turquoise colour scheme embraces the “botanical feeling” of gin branding, it is then overlaid with “quite blunt typography”, the designer says. “It’s a modern interpretation of protest language,” he adds.

That extends to the brand’s tone of voice, as seen on on the packaging and the website, which has been crafted to exist as “a part of that protest world”, Gladden adds.


Combined, those elements have been designed to mimic a flyer that you might find at a protest, according to Gladden. “We were trying to create a flyer that was then wrapped around the bottle,” he adds.

Midday – which has offices in London and Vancouver – previously rebranded the distillery, crafting a logo depicting two fingers which represent “togetherness”, Gladden says. This logo appears on Assembly’s packaging as well, on the top of the bottle top.

What do you think of the identity for Assembly Gin? Let us know in the comments below. 

Δ
Secret Shelter Challenge is designed to let childen access an area currently off-limits to them: the subterranean Clapham South bomb shelter.
The personalised t-shirt brand has taken over TikTok – here, its founders talk processes, creativity, and why comedic apparel is serious business.
Swedish electric bike company Cake has found an unexpected niche for its quieter, renewable energy-powered rides.
Following the release of the white paper last week, we asked design experts to comment on how they feel the government’s plans will affect the industry.
Copyright © 2022 Centaur Media plc and / or its subsidiaries and licensors. All rights reserved.
built by interconnect/it
Xeim Limited, Registered in England and Wales with number 05243851
Registered office at Floor M, 10 York Road, London, SE1 7ND

source