Dos Amantes: Mezcal Tobalá & Espadín + Tepeztate
Nathan Halwel
The following images are mezcal labels developed for an upcoming wedding utilizing a previously commissioned illustration. Because they are serving two mezcals at their reception, I was interested in creating two labels that were distinguishable from their counterpart, but still cohesive as a partnership - a lot like a good marriage.
This existing illustration has a lot of organic, figurative geometry, so I was interested in framing the complex visual relationship between the two overlapping bodies with a bold shape that didn't fight the framing of the subject by giving it plenty of negative space to breathe, in hopes of not crowding its density in line and content. I also wanted to avoid the overt simplicity of a square with four corners, so I decided to taper alternating corners with circular curvature at differing circumferences.
This gave me a great chance to disrupt the identical nature of the labels and create a mirroring effect when the labels are seen together by horizontally flipping the shape for the second label.
My favorite moments of these designs are the thought and speech bubbles - I believe they, along with the drop shadows of the same line density, bring some levity and playfulness to a drawing that can feel heavy and stern in body language and expression.
Overall, I am very happy with the outcome of this project! I am always interested in accomplishing a fine balance between the weight of melancholy imagery and the playful nature of crosshatching, texture, and geometry - and I think this has landed pretty close to that target I established for myself as an Illustrator.
Utilizing Adobe Illustrator for text manipulation, photoshop for layout and final color adjustment, and scanning in my drawing and hand-made textures really stretched me across all platforms for this project. I am happy to see it all come together at the wedding soon!
Hopefully, I'll be able to grab some nicer photos from the photographer when all is said and done.
Thanks for looking! Let me know what you think.
Here is the original ink illustration. You can find more detailed images in another post on my main page.
