SAKE

The overall design concept for SAKE: The History, Stories and Craft of Japan’s Artisanal Breweries was to create a premium quality product that captured the natural elements and handcrafted processes of brewing nihonshu (sake), shochu and awamori. Much inspiration for the design of this book came from Japanese minimalism as well as the landscape of Japan – to evoke both of these, the treatment and finish for both the box and cover design were kept simple and organic. For the box, we chose a neutral color with a rustic treatment, calling to mind the material of gunny sacks, used by breweries to store rice – the main ingredient in sake – and, for the title, the character jiǔ, which means “alcohol,” is written in Japanese shodo and prominently hot-stamped in black, creating a contrast of color and texture against the rough cover material while also adding a touch of elegance. As for the cover of the book, we picked a cool blue tone inspired by both winter, when the Japanese brewing season begins, and water, one of the major components of nihonshu. The book’s title, this time written in English, but maintaining the shodo-style, is also hot-stamped in black to provide continuity between the box and book cover. Additionally, the book’s subtitle appears in both English and kanji, reminding the reader of the jiǔ character used on the cover of the box. Wood-free paper was selected for the text pages to maintain consistency with the natural concept, at the same time creating the right tones for the images in the book. The interior images and layouts were carefully curated to highlight the breweries featured and to showcase the landscape surrounding each brewery, while the understated layout style allows the images to take center stage without overwhelming the body copy.