Death’s Door Spirits

Death’s Door Spirits is a privately owned distillery in Middleton, Wisconsin that features locally sourced ingredients from farmers on neighboring Washington Island, a quaint and scenic island in the northern part of the state. Death’s Door Spirits distributes gin, vodka, White Whiskey, and Wondermint, ​Schoolcraft’s original Wisconsin Wondermint Schnapps Liqueur. The company’s name was inspired by the history of the Death’s Door Passageway between Washington Island and the Door County Peninsula, the strait that connects Green Bay to the rest of Lake Michigan and took many early French explorers’ ships in its dangerous waters.

In this rebrand and brand expansion, I took an outdated liquor brand that was easy to look past and transformed it into a more established, distinctive system. With imagery from old books, hand-drawn illustrations, and customized type, I brought the folklore of the stormy seas to a gin bottle, tote bag, and box.