GOTHIC Spirits

Tap handle

The Gothic Spirits tap handle is a physical mock up of what the brand would look like on tap within a bar. Gothic Spirits is a beer, wine, and other spirits brand with a twist. The titular “spirits” is ironically made in the heart of Texas. Think a combination of old American gothic and very very old European gothic being mixed together in a big wooden barrel to give you the best tasting ale you’ve ever had.

THE MAKING OF

The tap handle was made with a plywood, masonite and MDF board foundation lazer cut into shape. The initial sketch is a dragon hanging onto an old gothic style tower. There would be four layers of board used in the final result. The sketch was finalized and measured properly on paper before buying the material and exporting to Adobe Illustrator.

Document sent to the lazer cutter (size of the artboard is the same as the real MDF board)

The physical tap handle is made with plywood, masonite, MDF, modeling paste, and acrylic paint. The boards were cut using a wood cutter, for the plywood foundation, and lazer cutter, for the masonite and MDF, and then glued together in several layers to create dimension in the work.

To make the wood appear like stone, modeling paste was used to give a rough texture. Finally, the tap handle was painted with acrylic paint for color and dimension. The final result is a stone dragon like a gargoyle meant to watch over the castle.

Sample for testing

THE RESULTS

THE PACKAGING

The Gothic Spirits beer bottle and six pack were created after the tap handle. They use the dragon as the main design with a decorated pattern behind it to mimic overgrown greenery. The bright green and muted green color palette is ghostly and withered to accent the old gargoyle style.