DTP00.6 CORPORATE IMAGE: LOOPUYT & CO. DISTILLERS | AUTHOR: DAVID G. MILLHOUSE

Based in the ‘gin city’ of Schiedam, the Netherlands, the birth place of Gin (jenever), Pieter Loopuyt founded Loopuyt & Co. Distillers in 1772.₁ The re-establishment of the company from 2014 called-for a tremendous body of graphic output from D. G. M, and until date, a moral discretion of voluntarily in-house realisation had been reserved.
  Owner Jan van Stigt Thans and master distiller Jaco de Leyn, with the ‘ontwerp’ of D. G. M, revived the solution back into the limelight, which proves success as one of the forerunning gin beverages of the Netherlands, available from leading distribution outlets, supermarkets, venues, bars incl. speakeasys, resturants and museums.
  Once a bank, the grand headquarters at Lange Nieuwstraat 101 has remained office since 1772 and houses a cocktail bar, an ice cellar, a barbershop and boxing ring.

Based on the original recipe estd. 1772, Loopuyt Dry Gin is of exquisite taste. A fusion of twelve independently distilled herbs and spices make the vapourisation process finer than average gins.
  Vincent van Gogh painted a bottle of Loopuyt gin during his career, H. M. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands enjoys a Loopuyt G&T and general director Taco Dibbits of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, has voiced attraction towards the label etiquitte.₂ Loopuyt Mini Dry Gin was available on Eurostar and the company is also the official drinks sponsor for The International Film Festival, Rotterdam.

The Loopuyt bespoke typeface (2014 D. G. M.) underwent refinement by incorporating the Monylop Principle. The optismall version has clear definition for typesetting at small sizes, hence gaping ink/light-traps – a somewhat squarish metamorphic suction, reminisent of nineteen-nineties cyber-fluid gabba lettering. Van Stigt Thans requested a ‘modern classic’ vision.

It was after visiting typographer Walter Nikkels, at Dordrecht Quay which lead D. G. M. towards the typeface initiation.₃ Hand painted signs around the harbour influenced a monochrome approach. The label lettering is narrow in order to maximise the Y-axis of the logotype. The L is chopped to mirror the T and the square O and P rebel against classified norms in order to fortify branding.
  Nationalities other than Dutch often find pronouncing Loopuyt somewhat challenging. Therefore 1772 plays a connotative role in identification and articulation. The ratio of the numerals ratio is ninety degrees rotation thereof the lettering, yet preserving the vertical strokes, broader than horizonal for optical legibility.

In collaboration with printers Autojon Netherlands, D. G. M. conducted the innovative technique of digitally printing the label with white ink print on a reflective surface. A method of printing which diminishes high costs of traditional foil pressing and offset lithography. To further the development of this techinque, tests were made in order to protect the print via an additional topcoat layer.
  An effect of trickery whence viewing the label from behind and within the bottle challenges the concept of branding, it becomes invisible. D. G. M. updated his label in 2023 to incorporate historical medals, double-black print for further density and all type set to the Monylop Principle.
  The shape of the label refers to the shields in Schiedam city’s coat of armour.₄ The black and yellow flag of Schiedam is situated on the label, above the ghost of the bottle.
  To celebrate 250 years of Loopuyt (1772–2022), D. G. M. took into account all requirements to work with CNC metal engraving, in multitude. The typographics for the cast finds references to coinage of a mid-twentith century taste for clear-cut proportion and golden sectioning. An exclusive serif type was drawn by D. G. M. for the celebratory coin and declared appropriate for the digital inscription.

Within the shields of Schiedam sit hourglasses and for Loopuyt gin, the hourglass mark represents a ‘long drink’. D. G. M. reinterpreted the hourglasses into a single emblem, which rotates when pouring. The entire label now shines as the original heral-dry gin.

Loopuyt and Co Distillers won Gold medal at the Distillers Exhibition in Dublin, Ireland in 1892. In 1910 the company won Grand Diploma of Honour at the International Exhibition in the Repubic of Argentina, Buenos Aries.
  D. G. M. extracted key graphic elements from the original awards, reinterpreting them into vector defined medallions as an addition to Loopuyt’s legacy and illustrated upon the label. A custom version of the bespoke Loopuyt typeface was appointed for the perpendicularly shaped Buenos Aries medal lettering. The Dublin gold medal incorporates the D. G. M. typeface Caesura.₅ Both medals garnish Loopuyt’s heritage.

100% freedom was given to establish the entire design and arrangment of the website, of which is built entirely from scratch by D. G. M, cross-device stable and incorporates unique illustrations and graphics. The main body-text typeface is set in Monylop.

 

 

 

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