“Raise that pinkie for a classy Drinkie”: Chloe Legret’s joyful identity for a cocktail delivery service

So what happens after you win the sought-after D&AD Next Pencil? Well, graphic designer Chloe Legret admits that, after receiving hers, she felt like she needed to “live up to it in some way”. We last heard from the London-based designer in 2020 and, since then, she’s finally opened the doors (so to speak) to her own studio, run under the same name. The pencil was the push she needed. And now, she’s also worked alongside a handful of dream studios including OMSE and Nari, and has run a host of projects off her own back, including this one – a brand identity for Drinkie.

After being approached in early 2021 by Drinkie’s founders Alex and Dan, Chloe was keen to work alongside their “glass half full” philosophy. The duo launched a mobile cocktail bar five years ago with £200 to its name, “and it’s grown ever since,” she says. With a permanent venue just outside London, the pair needed to react to the pandemic and its many imposed lockdowns; they decided to send people cocktails instead. In need of a visual identity that replicates the founders’ fun mentality, Chloe was the perfect candidate. “Essentially, the brief was very simple,” she say. “Make it look like the taste of joy.”

Doing just that, the first thing the team put their minds to was a refreshed name. A collaborative workshop later and they landed on the “playful messaging” that Drinkie provides: “Wanna hear that clinky clinky? Pour that Drinkie” and “Raise that pinkie for a classy Drinkie” and so on. The strategy, in a nutshell, was to deliver an identity that “packed a (juicy rum) punch”, with a “juicy” wordmark at the core and stand-out colour blocks as the visual system – the latter referencing the hues you see in a cocktail. “The bright teal colour forms the hero palette inspired by Drinkie’s signature cocktail, Pisco Disco – flavoured with Blue Curaçao to give the drink its unusual tangy teal colour,” says Chloe.

The wordmark was developed using elements from Livorno by Luzi Type, which gives it a bubbly and delicious-looking aesthetic composed from curvy serifs, “which we felt were a perfect fit”. She adds: “We then worked in some custom ligatures to bring letterforms closer together, emphasising the social, intimate comforting element of the brand. In motion, the wordmark flexes to reference the soft touch pouches the drinks are delivered in.”

All in all, the one true goal of the Drinkie rebrand was to create something joyful. And you can’t deny how much they’ve succeeded in doing just that. We can all relate to the feeling of going to a bar, ordering a cocktail – probably one you’ve never heard of before – and ‘letting go’, and the identity for Drinkie is no different; it’s fun, unexpected and playful. “There’s a kind of ceremony to it,” Chloe says. “The visual is about trying to bring that to people at home – you order online and then this beautiful box arrives at your door. When you open it, you have these fun colours and a beautiful design. I want it to be exciting and feel special before you even pour anything.”