Sol - New Packaging Design

Design: Vault49
Location: New York
Project Type: Produced
Packaging Contents: Beer

Brand design agency Vault49 today unveils a new design for Sol packaging in global markets.

Inspired by Sol’s Mexican heritage, Vault49 used handcrafted artisanal elements to tell the brand’s rich and colorful history while elevating Sol’s iconic sun symbol as a vibrant beacon for positivity.

Positive energy
Sol approached Vault49 after a separate redesign in the US to help the beer brand create a powerful, authentic packaging design for global markets. A new design in these markets would more deeply engage drinkers with Sol’s brand story and proposition: “Sol connects you to the positive energy of the sun.”
Sol wanted to establish itself further as an aspirational, premium option, moving away from a gritty, rebellious identity and into a vibrant, colorful, and positive space to summon sunny urban adventures that more authentically reflect the brand and its drinkers.

Energetic confidence
To help Sol tell its story, Vault49 dove into the history of the brand to reconnect it with its positive, sunny, authentically Mexican heritage.

This led Vault49 to eschew classic visual cues around ‘craft’ identities, and rather to look to the work of Mexican artisans as a way of expressing Sol’s vibrant attitude and story. The agency drew inspiration from the energetic confidence of work handcrafted by Mexican artisans.

Sam Wilkes, Creative Director at Vault49, says “We were struck by the way that Mexican craft is so full of vibrant spontaneity and joyful colors. Texture plays a central role, through the use of natural materials and pigments which elevate the human nature of the designs. This combination of art, approachability, and heritage was the aesthetic we wanted to communicate for Sol through the new packaging.”

This in-depth research into the heritage behind Sol gave Vault49 the foundation to tell a strong story through design, and by approaching story first, the agency uncovered an authentic execution that elevates the brand.

Vibrant roots
To create the new design for Sol, Vault49 brought the techniques behind Mexican artisan designs into the studio, allowing the learnings from Mexican art to determine the brand assets designers would create and the tools they would use to create it.

In studio, designers crafted all of the assets by hand: for Vault49’s new take on the iconic Sol sun and clouds, they created a hand cut lino print with process drawn from what was learned about artisanal saddle making. Hand-painted sun rays and medallions on the pack, and a new vibrant, welcoming color palette embody the positive energy of the sun and harken back to Sol’s authentic roots.

“By making the sun the hero of the pack and infusing the packaging with premium artistry that is directly informed by where the brand came from, we’ve brought back Sol’s lost heritage,” says Wilkes.