Project highlight: Lucinda Penn's palette for Quattro Gin

12 Feb 2024

Artist Lucinda Penn, known for her vibrant murals and artwork, had the opportunity to design the label for Quattro Juniper Gin, a recipe that 23^rd St Distillery had been cultivating for a while.

“I was first engaged on this project late 2021 after responding to a call out for 23^rd St Distillery to find new artists to collaborate with,” Lucinda says. “In early 2022 I went for a trip down to the distillery in Renmark to explore the distilling process with the brand manager Amelia. I was able to climb up the iconic glass distilling tower to see the piping as part of the process and the large wooden distilling pots down on the ground. 

“The four sides of this tower inspired the quattro idea which is now embodied by the four different types of juniper sourced from Australia and Europe. To do the uniqueness of this spirit justice, I wanted to tell the story of the gin through a visual narrative.

“The striking colour palette stems from the unique Bulgarian Red Juniper which stands out in the line of four dried juniper berries. The native coastal Boobialla is the light purple fruit. The additional traditional darker junipers are from Bulgaria and Macedonia. There are repeating themes of four cocktails, ice cubes, hands, diamond stars and four sides of the iconic distilling tower at the Renmark distillery. Amongst searching for these quattro's you will also find citrus, distilling equipment, juniper flowers and roads to Renmark as part of the unique distilling process.”

The vibrant and unique Quattro Juniper Gin label, created with the colours Resene Daisy Bush, Resene Dancing Girl, Resene Sunshade, Resene Vibe, Resene Ballerina and Resene Builders White.

Lucinda compared other 23^rd St Distillery labels created by various artists and found there was a niche for reds and purples. Resene Vibe suited the Red Bulgarian Juniper, Resene Daisy Bush and Resene Dancing Girl are repeat favourites of Lucinda’s which suited the light purple juniper and the reach dark tone of the others.

“My style is an amalgamation of art and design principles, and I always use a dark colour such as Resene Daisy Bush to create depth by pushing the darkest tone backwards and using some contours for emphasis,” Lucinda says. Resene Sunshade stands out as the brightest colour, with Resene Ballerina being harmonious.

The bottle was released in April 2023. Make sure to get your hands on this artistic design. 

design Lucinda Penn

images Jarrad French

Published: 12 Feb 2024