Backbar Studios

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Backbar Studios

We are a multi-award winning design studio, specialising in end-to-end branding and packaging design.

12/10/2026

We’re incredibly proud to unveil Marking Time, our project for this year’s Make a Mark.

As the first Irish design studio to take part in Make a Mark, and one of just 12 studios selected globally this year, we felt it was important to create something inherently Irish. An opportunity to celebrate our heritage, showcase Irish creativity globally and develop a concept reflecting where we come from. We wanted to make our mark by drawing on our language, our landscape and the connection between the two.

The name FID derives from the ancient Ogham word for ‘tree’. Fid (plural feda) was also the name given to the individual letters of the Ogham alphabet. A Celtic alphabet used widely in Ireland from the 4th to 9th centuries, each ‘Fid’ or Ogham letter was carved vertically on to trees and standing stones, inextricably linking our language and land.

Inscribing in this way celebrated our native language in living, breathing material. This wh***ey concept honours this origin - imagined as aged in Irish oak casks - reconnecting the liquid to the trees that once shaped the script itself. Each face of the bottle is engraved with an Irish word in Ogham - Adhmaid (wood), Cloch (stone), Aois (age) and Cuimhne (memory) - a narrative of the forces that influence wh***ey craft.

FID is a unique liquid shaped by nature, the Irish elements and time. The bottle acts as a contemporary tribute to our most indigenous arts, transforming packaging into an enduring object. Refillability is central to the concept - celebrating craftsmanship and also safeguarding the environment. Like an Ogham stone, the bottle remains standing, becoming a lasting piece, an enduring connection between language, landscape, culture and sensory experience.

A huge thank you to mark for inviting us to take part, and to the incredible partners and collaborators who helped bring FID to life.

CAD Developer. Michael Rudak

Print Partner. Watershed Group

Renders. Raúl Marín

Glass Bottle. ESTAL. Packaging Solutions.

Label Material. Avery Dennison

Transfer Foils. LEONHARD KURZ Creative

Closure. Tapì Group and lesbouchagesdelage

***ey

22/09/2026

Micil X Kneecap Potín

When Micil Distillery and KNEECAP came together to create a limited-edition poitín earlier this year, there was plenty of character on both sides to work with.

The spirit takes Micil’s Connemara poitín and rests it in casks seasoned with Kneecap’s favourite tonic w**e. Our job was to bring the collaboration to life through the label and packaging, finding a balance between Micil’s distilling heritage and Kneecap’s own visual world, while creating something that felt suitably distinctive for a limited release.

Poitín’s illicit past gave us a natural place to start. Letterpress-style typography, rough print textures and references to old Irish newspapers and posters give the design a deliberately unpolished quality, while keeping enough of Micil’s existing identity for it to still feel like one of theirs. Micil’s own story goes back to illicit distilling in Connemara in 1848, so the references felt particularly fitting.

For the limited run of 200ml naggins, Kneecap’s favourite tonic w**e gave us another reference to play with. Each bottle comes wrapped in a hand-finished brown paper bag, tied and paired with a swing tag designed to resemble an old admission ticket. Small details that make the pack feel more like something passed across a counter than taken from a conventional spirits shelf, giving the limited edition its own sense of occasion and character.

The collector’s edition takes the same thinking somewhere more substantial. Working with Fiachra Davoren , we developed a wooden presentation box with an oversized X built directly into the front, making the collaboration itself part of the structure of the pack. Together with the bottle, bag and tag, it creates a packaging system designed to feel as collectable as the release itself.

Two brands with very different stories, brought together through a shared bit of Irish mischief.

Bottled small but deadly.

Photography Norton Photography

10/09/2026

We’ve been working with Ahascragh Distillery for the past few years, developing their new brand alongside a new generation of Ahascragh whiskies, the first of which is set to launch in early 2027. We’re excited to finally start sharing some of that work.

We don’t often divulge the creative process behind the brands we craft. So, why not change things up a bit and share some of the behind-the-scenes rationale.

During our research, we looked at Ahascragh from above and noticed something hiding in plain sight: an ‘A’ formed naturally by the roads at the centre of the village, right beside the distillery.

That discovery became the birthplace of the identity.

Even the extended stroke of the ‘A’ comes from the geography of the village, reaching towards the distillery and rooting the mark very specifically in its home.

The creative cogs kept turning beyond the discovery of the town’s landscape, however. We knew there was more character to uncover.

Both founders’ family crests feature a lion and a golden eagle, two symbols that are deeply personal to them. We explored how we could bring the two together, eventually creating a griffin and intertwining it within the ‘A’.

Two families. One shared vision. One mark.

The interlocking form gives the symbol a distinctly Celtic character, something that feels carved, woven and connected to Irish heritage, while still feeling contemporary.

The new green palette is rooted in Ahascragh too. It takes its cue from the landscape that surrounds the village, while also nodding to the distillery’s pioneering approach to sustainability as Ireland’s first zero-emission energy distillery.

There’s a lot of Ahascragh’s story woven into a single mark.

The place. The founders. Their heritage. And the distillery they’ve built together.

Sharing a snapshot of how the design process unfolds really highlights the thinking that sits behind the work: finding the ideas and details that make a brand genuinely its own.

25/08/2026

Introducing, liquori Di Maria

Built upon a love of holidays spent in Italy with friends and family, our client wanted to distill that sensory experience into one sultry sip - crafted from Sicilian Blood Oranges and lemons - to rival the cello category and to celebrate the aperitivo moments that consumers are embracing around the world.

Our solution embodies that pure, zesty, sultry spirit...distilled into an iconic brand and bottle. The sculptural bespoke glassware nods to Italy and heroes the ingredient, while the brandmark heroes the vibe - inviting the consumer to feel inspired and aspired.

Photography by Nick Howe

19/08/2026

Over the last year, we’ve had the pleasure of working across all things , from packaging and print to brand guidelines, graphics, and everything in between.

After a lot of hard work and excitement, the Sugar Plum brand has now moved beyond the pack and into their new Cork store.

did an unreal job on the shop design, and it was a lot of fun collaborating with them on some of the graphic details and seeing the Sugar Plum identity physically come to life in the space.

It’s only the beginning for Sugar Plum, and we’re excited for what’s to come!

Store design:
Fit-out:
Props:

23/02/2026

New Work - Eduardo’s Negroni

Inspired by the founder’s tales from his Italian grandfather and crafted using locally sourced and seasonal ingredients, this superb ready-to-drink cocktail range is complex and classic, while additional releases experiment with innovative expressions of the iconic Negroni. With two releases now available, and many more to come, each sip celebrates a different destination and taste profile inspired by Eduardo’s twilight adventures and Prohibition-era escapades.

Backbar has partnered with the team at Eduardo’s to bring an entire brand platform, packaging suite and Eduardo to life. Some of the story in plain sight... some yet to be told. Layers of detail will unfold as both new flavours and new stories flow with each new release.

Photography by www.christopherheaney.com

negroni italy italianbrand spiritsbranding graphicdesign designinspiration packagingdesign alcoholpackaging bottledesign labeldesign

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