Goldling is a new brand creation by B&B studio for entrepreneur Max Dodd-Noble, encompassing brand positioning, creative strategy, naming, brand design and packaging. A range of ready-to-drink organic vodka sodas, Goldling brings premium appeal and quality ingredients to the burgeoning canned cocktail space.

Refreshingly Complex
Goldling has been created to bring the world’s best bar experience to cans. Through attributing the depth and complexity of handmade cocktails to the spontaneous at-home drinking occasion, Goldling has developed Europe’s first range of organic vodka & soda, using all-natural organic fruits, herbs and botanicals to create refreshingly complex flavour profiles.

With a focus on production and the provenance of ingredients, flavour variants include Sundown – made from a blend of freshly-pressed limes, tropical pineapple and a hint of citrusy kaffir lime leaf; and Moonlight – a blend of wild British strawberries mixed with juicy pomegranate and a hint of warming cayenne pepper.

Keen to distinguish the brand’s complex flavour profiles from the super-basic vibes of hard seltzer, B&B has introduced a layered visual world that combines illustration and photography into escapist collage, blending product and ingredient visuals with imaginary landscapes and lifestyle imagery.

Crafted Light
The creative direction for the brand was inspired by spontaneous drinking occasions, and the changing character of light from the bright sunshine of a poolside cocktail, through the haze of the golden hour aperitif to the moonlight shimmer of night-time drinks. The brand name Goldling is inspired by the Golden Hour and was created by B&B to capture this essence, while variant names are chosen to reflect the drinking occasions. Throughout the design, light is used in expressive ways – from the high contrast illustrations and metallic sheen of the cans through to the shafts of light prominent in the brand’s lifestyle photography. Crucially, the brand’s monogram G – used variously as a solid icon and framing device – also suggests the celestial sources of light: the sun, the moon and the stars.

Jennie Potts, Design Director at B&B studio, says: “Goldling’s drinks bring a new level of craft and creativity to the world of RTDs, and it was important to reflect that in our design solution. The escapist worlds we’ve conjured up capture the experience of each drink, evoking flavour through both visual clues and colour coding. It’s deliberately a world away from hard seltzer language.”

Goldling founder Max Dodd-Noble adds: “With Goldling, B&B has found that fine balance between spontaneous on-the-go fun and premium cocktail craft. The cans are every bit as inviting as I hoped they’d be, promising both authentic refreshment and escapist pleasure. Perfect for drinking with friends at the Golden Hour”.