Kanpai Cocktails
Visual Identity, Packaging, Illustration
Visual identity and packaging design for a new line of canned cocktails by Brooklyn restaurant Rule of Thirds (Sound on!)
Lifting Spirits in a Difficult Time
When the COVID-19 pandemic suspended community gatherings and decimated the restaurant industry, our friends at Rule of Thirds created a series of new offerings, including a line of canned cocktails called Kanpai. Isometric designed a lighthearted and whimsical visual identity and packaging system to lift people’s spirits, complete with custom typography and illustrations. To convey the cocktails’ concepts and flavors, we developed a central character, loosely based on a cofounder at Thirds, who takes on different personas based on the story of each cocktail: an art connoisseur for “Exit Through the Teashop” or a trumpeter for “Jazz Lingo.”
Sharing time, sharing joy
Prior to the pandemic, the entire Rule of Thirds staff would come out into the dining room and declare to all visitors, "It's Kanpai Time!" Kanpai is akin to “cheers” in English, literally meaning “empty the cup.” We took this spirit of community and collective celebration as a starting point for the design, developing custom typography, illustrations, and animations that convey the restaurant team’s quirky and playful nature.
