Device Creative Collaborative is a design studio based in Winston-Salem, NC. They honor craft and get their hands dirty as often as possible.
Why does beverage packaging lend itself readily to hand-drawn type?
shane cranford: Buck O’Hairen’s Sunshine is a pick-me-up developed from a recipe created during the 1800s. The design is meant to harken back to the hand lettering that was popular during the boom of medicine shows throughout the United States in the nineteenth century. Buck O’Hairen’s Legendary Sunshine lends itself to being hand drawn as a point of differentiation. This product is not Red Bull, and is not meant for those jumping from space or doing back flips on motorcycles.
Can you talk about the neo-Victorian style that you chose for the packaging?
The Victorian style has had a huge resurgence in popularity, with many designers putting their own twists on it. For us, though, it’s not just a style. The Victorian design direction conceptually tied into what this brand represented.
Where do you look for inspiration for lettering?
I find lettering inspiration everywhere. I know that is the expected answer, but it’s true. One of my favorite things to do is to rummage through old bookstores and antique shops. For online inspiration, I use some of the more popular options like Pinterest, Instagram, Dribbble, etc.
Were there many rounds of sketches created before you arrived at the final concept?
This package design came together pretty quickly. The overall layout and design details, from the sunshine monogram to the American flag barcode, were conceived right from the start. What took the most time was continually resizing the design, since choosing a final can size took some time.
Is the typography created from traced letterforms, or was it done completely freehand?
For this project, the lettering is about half freehand and half referenced from existing type. The main elements were roughly sketched out a few times then scanned and cleaned up. The remaining elements either used digital type as reference or were set entirely in digital type.
product: Buck O’Hairen’s Legendary Sunshine
client: Sunshine Beverages LLC
design firm: Device Creative Collaborative
art directors: Shane Cranford, Ross Clodfelter, and David Jones
designers/hand letterers: Shane Cranford and Ross Clodfelter
medium: Pencil and marker
country: United States
Buck O’Hairen’s Legendary Sunshine is the antithesis of other energy drinks, and the design reflects this. “No extreme bevels or glow effects were used in the making of this package,” says Cranford.
