Public Address wants its seltzer identity to look anything but colourful and care-free

Don’t say we don’t spoil you – three drink identities in a week! Whether it’s because summer’s on the horizon or there’s just something in the water, there seems to be a lot of drink branding projects floating around at the moment. Although only one of them is trying to disprove the common – and understandable – misnomer that if you’ve seen one seltzer identity, you’ve seen them all: Public Address for Cliché. For the new brand, the Toronto-based design and creative studio brings you work interestingly positioned between the world of contemporary art galleries and scrappy surf magazines.

While the two realms might seem a bit contradictory, it works. Cliché features high-contrast photography that you might expect to tear from an old skate publication; bright red grins appear against shots of smashed glass. “We paired that inspiration with a more stark, gallery-inspired palette,” Chris Braden, co-founder of Public Address tells us.

This mix of high and low – which is something Chris says is key to the Cliché approach – is solidified both with a supporting black and white colour palette and a minimal typeface, Neue Montreal by Pangram Pangram. “The seltzer category is full of a lot of script-y and friendly type,” Chris explains, “by contrast, the use of Neue Montreal is a clear indicator that the brand is something fresh and different.

On the studio’s outlook on the project, Public Address summarises in its case study: “With so many brands leaning into light, bright, care-free packaging and identities, we saw an opportunity to be purposefully different.” Alongside its distinct packaging, the studio introduces a new website for the brand, which is refreshingly cold-looking, and a campaign “featuring a bold, crushed can, creating sculptural silhouettes against the white backdrop”.