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Elevate Your Mojito

10 Cane is a luxury rum made from first-press pure sugarcane and not from the molasses dregs used in most rum. "Alchemy is the underlying positioning of both the product and the package," explains designer Sarah Nelson. "The mixing of the elegant, classic crest with the irreverent placement of the label; the raw beauty of Trinidad with the sophistication of France; it's the redemption of the classic cocktail."

The HOW judges wholeheartedly agree. "The design elevates rum from the gutter that Captain Morgan hangs out in," jokes judge Jenn Visocky O'Grady. "Seriously, the packaging encourages you to stop thinking about rum as something you drink with Coke at a frat house."

And that's exactly what the designers were trying to do. "The client was extremely pleased with it," Nelson says. "We worked very closely with them every step of the way, exploring many, many variations. The final design is actually very close to what we originally proposed."

"We designed the bottle, working with a bottle-engineering and -manufacturing company in France," designer Sarah Nelson says. "We were paired up with them by our client Moët Hennessy."

The irreverent placement of the label indicates the clashing of cultures, the modern with the traditional, new-world style with old-world quality.

"The crest was originally something we pieced together from heraldic clip art," Nelson says. "When the elements were all finally approved, we hired Elvis Swift to redraw the illustration to make everything look good and work together organically."

HOW April 2006

Title: 10 Cane Rum
Design Firm: Werner Design Werks, Minneapolis
Art Director: Sharon Werner
Designers: Sarah Nelson, Sharon Werner
Client: Moët Hennessy 

Get the April 2006 International Design Annual