Mock & Proper
Brand Identity • Brand Systems

Mock & Proper

Concept Project

Brand Identity
Brand Systems
Brand Strategy
Creative Direction
Logo Design
Packaging Design
Website Design
Marketing Campaign

Mock & Proper brings people together over low- and no-alcohol drinks designed to complement a balanced lifestyle.

The project began as a design challenge with a focused brief: create a logo and a four-slide Instagram ad carousel. I saw an opportunity to build beyond those deliverables and explore how the brand could look, speak, and connect with its audience.

Taking on the role of creative director and designer, I expanded the brief into a complete brand system spanning visual identity, messaging, photography direction, packaging, website design, and email campaigns. The result is a refined yet playful brand that makes mindful drinking feel improper.

Challenge

Make moderation feel like an invitation.

Mock & Proper’s brief called for a low- and no-alcohol wine and spirits brand that could feel sophisticated without the formality often associated with premium drinks. The audience was socially engaged, design-conscious adults who wanted the pleasure of the occasion with more choice in what they poured.

The challenge was to make that choice feel desirable in its own right. The identity needed to communicate taste, personality, and belonging while supporting a varied product range.

Approach

Refined with a rebellious streak.

I built the creative direction around the tension within the name. “Proper” suggested considered presentation, beautiful glassware, and familiar rituals. “Mock” introduced permission to reinterpret those conventions.

The campaign idea, “Impeccably Improper,” brought those qualities together. Refined photography established the setting, while assertive typography, unexpected arrangements, and playful language disrupted its formality. That balance became the foundation for decisions across the brand.

The Visual Identity

Refined in mood. Bold in expression.

The logo is comprised of a slab serif font that plays around timelessness with rough edges. And to support the brand’s service, the motif was created from the negative space that’s formed around bottles, while also being the shape of a bottle finish. Supporting lockups accommodate different proportions while retaining the same character.

Novecento Slab Wide carries the brand’s expressive voice throughout displays, while a more restrained supporting typeface keeps longer copy and product information readable. Deep green, stone black and warm cream establish the core palette, with additional colors distinguishing products and adding variety across applications.

Photography Direction

A proper setting, through AI.

I took the opportunity to push the use of AI on image production. The results produced a library of images that pushed the creative direction with ease. That reduced the production time substantially to really focus on executing with imagination.

The photo direction follows the narrative of being improper and out of the box. Pairing refined cocktails, trays, materials, an pushing elements (like a lime peel) through the composition and disrupting the scene. Deep green, warm cream, and burgundy connect the imagery to the brand palette. Directional light emphasizes the sensory details: reflections through glass, the texture of linen, and the color of a garnish.

Packaging Design

One identity. A distinct product family.

The packaging translates the identity into a coordinated range of spirit alternatives. Prominent product names establish a clear hierarchy, while repeated typography gives the labels a recognizable rhythm.

Color accents distinguish the varieties across labels and neck seals. The wordmark and signature motif remain consistent, connecting each bottle to the wider family.

I designed the labels to work both individually and as a group. That relationship carries into product photography, campaign compositions, and the website, where the range needs to remain recognizable at different scales.

Digital Experience

From first impression to product discovery.

The homepage introduces the brand through atmospheric imagery and confident messaging, then brings the product range into focus. While the rest of the site focuses on providing a clear navigation for the user.

Designed to browse, not hunt.

A simplified product library removes unnecessary friction, allowing customers to understand the collection, compare products and move directly into individual product stories.

Campaign

Extending the invitation.

With a strong conceptual photography direction, and clear messaging, the campaign was spread throughout email, posters, and billboards—with the purpose of introducing the world to what Mock and Proper has to offer in the spirit and wine business.