Responses by Chad Makerson Michael, studio owner, Chad Michael Studio.
Background: The purpose of the project was to completely rebrand Liba Spirits and its hero brand Terrativo to embody its ethos of “distilling destinations,” capturing the essence of each unique locale it harvests and distill its products from. The target audience includes experience-driven consumers who appreciate authenticity, craftsmanship, and spirits that connect them to different cultures through distinct flavors and stories in each bottle.
Design thinking: The bottle design features a 360-degree embossed “wave” intended to evoke a feeling of boundlessness, non-conformity and the free-spirited nature of Liba’s process rather than a specific physical form. The bottle’s overall shape takes inspiration from travel-ready flasks, tins and antiqued map tubes, visually reinforcing Liba’s adventurous, nomadic spirit in a way that feels both classic and purposeful.
Challenges: Designing a custom vessel that not only embodies the brand’s soul but also sets a strong foundation for Liba Spirits’s new Terrativo range. As the first product in this lineup, the design needed to establish a flexible identity that would evolve across future offerings while remaining cohesive. Each future release will feature a unique label design with new colorways, distinct typefaces that reflect that product’s history and mood, and an entirely new illustration surrounding the iconic T. This approach ensures that each product tells its own story while contributing to a unified brand system.
Favorite details: I’m especially proud of the tactile quality of the glass design with its embossed lettering, flowing wave texture and smooth varnish accents on the label. The large T on the front serves as an instantly recognizable brand mark, creating a unique identity specifically for Liba. These elements come together to create a richly textured, memorable design for a consumer that captures both the spirit and wanderlust nature of the brand.
Visual influences: Visual influences for the bottle were drawn from vintage travel-centric vessels, which aligns with Liba’s nomadic essence, while the label merges traditional bourbon aesthetics with Italian label design and early 1900s seed catalogs. This combination gives each bottle an authentic yet timeless feel that visually connects with the brand's place-driven storytelling: label being the heart, bottle being the soul.
Alternate paths: If starting over, I’d revisit the closure to add subtle complexity while keeping it visually clean. This might include engraving a phrase along the edge to mirror the glass lettering in the raise bands or adding a twist-off mechanic to the medallion that reveals a hidden element inside, such as actual grains from the mash bill or a functional compass—a fitting nod to Liba’s spirit of exploration. Who knows, maybe it will make an appearance in a future special edition!
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