SŌDA

SŌDA is a range of botanical sodas where each flavour carries its own engraved plant. Hibiscus sits on cream, citrus on charcoal and rose on deep ultramarine, so colour separates the range at a glance while typography holds it together.

Botanical drinks are a crowded shelf, and many of them share the same soft watercolour look. We wanted character that could be read from a distance, with enough discipline that three cans still look like one brand. The illustration also had to hold up when printed small on a curved aluminium surface.

We were responsible for the identity, the can packaging and the visual system behind them.

• Wordmark and identity
• Can packaging
• Botanical illustration
• Colour palette
• Typographic system

Each flower and fruit was drawn as fine engraved linework, closer to a specimen plate than a label graphic. The palette was kept to five values: cream, charcoal, ultramarine, ash and paper. A wide-tracked wordmark with a macron over the O anchors every can, supported by a plain monospaced type for flavour names and brand lines such as every can is a specimen plate.

Botanical character, a considered range. Illustration, palette and type work as one kit, so a new flavour needs only a new plant and a colour from the set to join the shelf. The same rules carry into presentation boards, where the wordmark sits alone on cobalt or the brand lines run in cream on black.