PROJECT

Sherbet

The Goal

India is a beautiful country with many beautiful ethnic alcohols. Kallu from the coconuts of Kerala, Feni from the cashews of Goa, Apong made from the rice fields of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, Mahua from the mystical Mahua tree that grows all over MP, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. We have been alcohol enthusiasts for a while now, but the market is slowly oversaturated with the same 4 companies’ beers and hard spirits. We wanted to breathe some new energy into this space. Thus was born Sherbet. Hard seltzer for India, yes, we know, we tried reaching out to Shark Tank already. While a couple of these already exist, none of their packaging makes us wanna spend our last Empire combo money on a wild one. We wanted to make this the White Claw Indian college kids so desperately miss.

branding
packaging
illustration
art direction
typography

A heap of Sherbet Orange Mango cans in yellow, pink and blue tile patterns.

Truck-art references: hand-painted signboards for New Delhi, Varanasi, Jaisalmer and Voyage India.

A moodboard with callouts: bold, vibrant as possible; premium feel; truck-art inspired typeface; culturally rich design; modern traditional style; boxy square design language.

A Sherbet six-pack in its printed carton on a red and orange table.

The Process

We began our process by not allowing each other to open up a reference website, then we had a conversation about our favourite unintentional Indian design. Sometimes our people make such insane art pieces for spaces that probably don’t need that much love, but hey, no one’s complaining. “Bus ticket”, “Ramraj Muscle guy ad”, “Our Kati roll guy’s cart has a pretty sick design” and a bunch of other Cannes Gold contenders, but immediately we found common ground on truck art. Truck art has to be recognized as an official design language, and we were about to steal its whole flow.

A Sherbet Orange Mango can lying in a pile of cut oranges and peaches.

A waiter holding a steel tray of three Sherbet cans with pink straws and lemon slices, on a bed of marigolds.

The Outcome

Sherbet is a breath of fresh air in a sea of white cans with minimalist fonts. We wanted our alcoholic brand to look like, if it were a person, it would be hella fun to party with. In the end we were able to create a batch of packaging concepts and art direction elements to send home the message, if it wasn’t clear already. Indians want cooler experiences that actually feel like they’re made for Indians.