quest
mead

Vaporwave uses many bright, neon colors to create a retro, futuristic look. Keeping this in mind, I selected bold neon hues while also choosing a muted teal and tangerine shade to ensure a balanced color palette.

Selecting the type proved to be very challenging. While arcade machines and the vaporwave aesthetic typically utilize bold and graphic typefaces, I was concerned that these choices might overpower the brand and overshadow the brand's identity. These typefaces featured rounded corners, pixel art vectors, and a lot of uppercase lettering.

I chose to use Brandon Grotesque for the logo as it featured the rounded corners, and allowed me to alter the “Q” easily. The other typefaces chosen are Rockwell, a slab-serif that also consists of slightly rounded corners, and Eurostile, a geometric sans-serif. I tested each of these typefaces in uppercase and lowercase settings. It was important that each would lend to the overall packaging design as most of the copy would be in uppercase.

Drawing inspiration from the power button commonly found on electronic devices, I began designing the “Q” of the logo. I also incorporated elements of the iconic “sun” from the vaporwave aesthetics, modeling the entire logo after it and creating varying line weights to achieve the desired look.

The biggest challenge I faced for this project was packaging. I aimed to create something unique, avoiding the reliance of pre-made templates. I modeled my package after arcade machines and went through numerous iterations to ensure correct dimensions. Additionally, I designed a template for the bottle to fit within the packaging. The bottle features a hexagonal base, symbolizing the honey from which mead is created.

The graphics I created drew inspiration from video games and the heads-up display (HUD) commonly found in gaming interfaces. I incorporated a hexagonal shape to represent the various flavor notes of the mead and their intensity levels. I've also included a circular chart infographic resembling the letter “Q” to display percentages, such as alcohol by volume.