Description:

Communication from the alcohol industry is often driven towards binge drinking culture; over 50% of alcohol in New Zealand is consumed on heavy drinking occasions, leading to increases in health complications, crime, and emergency room visits. This project actively responds to the damaging influence of alcohol advertising, which often promotes fast consumption, glamorizing binge drinking and social pressures. However, alcohol isn’t all bad; low to moderate alcohol consumption can help reduce social anxiety, facilitate conversation, and enhance feelings of community. Recently, younger generations have forced the cocktail industry to increasingly embrace a more inclusive approach, celebrating diverse ingredients, techniques, and cultural influences.

By slowing down the drinking experience through thoughtfully designed cocktails, the project encourages consumers to recentre and shift the focus from quantity to quality. In doing so, it challenges the commercial messaging of alcohol brands, replacing the narrative of instant gratification with one of mindful enjoyment. This reorientation not only fosters healthier drinking habits but also redefines alcohol as an accompaniment to meaningful social interaction rather than a tool for escape or excess. This project aims to change the context in which alcohol appears in our social lives, embracing a slower and more content way of living, and this has led to an emphasis on the handmade, natural process behind the work instead of relying on digital techniques to expedite the process.

Choosing to showcase the craft of cocktail making instead of the fast-paced, easy consumption of alcohol many young adults have come to expect, the Bon Vivant guide uses a decorative lectern binding, promoting a new focus for the role of alcohol in social situations in the home. The design identity was curated to convey the value of slow, intentional creation.