Squad Ink – ArchieMite Buttered Toast

ArchieMite Buttered Toast Spirit, is an experimental, savoury, buttery, unaged spirit inspired by Australia’s love for umami-rich breakfast spreads.Sydney-based branding and design studio, Squad Ink, worked alongside Archie Rose, the most highly awarded distillery in Australia, to create packaging that respectfully marries popular Australian consumer culture with progressive craft distilling. “The challenge for us was to capture the nostalgia that comes with Australia’s favourite supermarket breakfast spreads, yet deliver a packaging design worthy of a premium artisanal spirit. In many ways it was a lesson in letting go of the brand constraints and having a bit of fun” – Matthew Squadrito, Director of Squad InkArchieMite was created using a combination of individually distilled ingredients including 25kg of freshly churned Pepe Saya Butter, 15kg of toasted Sonoma sourdough bread and a selection of blended yeast-extract spreads (“mites”). Off the back of multiple limited-release successes including Archie Rose X Horisumi, a gin collaboration with acclaimed tattoo artist Kian Forreal (Horisumi) and more recently the Archie Rose Summer Gin Project, that captures the essence of Australian summer – there is an expectation Archiemite will receive the same wide-reaching interest. This served up an opportunity to present the more playful side of the Archie Rose team. “Over the five years of building the Archie Rose brand together, the sheer dedication and uncompromising standards of the team is incredibly inspiring. The team are living the dream over there and having a tonne of fun along the way! We wanted the next limited-release to express that” – Matthew Squadrito, Director of Squad Ink. The packaging design delivers lashings of good ol’ Aussie nostalgia with bold angled block type and a retro inspired illustration of your favourite spread on toast. It’s a blast from the past yet refreshingly current. The label is printed digitally in vibrant yellow and features an all over textured grain emboss for a premium result. An added gloss high build screen has been applied over graphics to ensure that the rich yeast-extract spread sings out off the label.  ArchieMite Buttered Toast Spirit will be released on May 8 (mate) as a limited-edition product of only 3,000 bottles. Like the mites it’s created from, it’s likely to be a rather divisive product.