A Label of Love
HOW ONE YORK CERAMICIST TRANSFORMED COOPER KING GIN INTO AN AWARD-WINNER
Craftsmanship, honesty and adventure are Cooper King’s core values, so it’s no surprise that we work closely with Yorkshire’s most talented craftspeople to bring beauty, heritage and intrigue into our spirits, the distillery and our story. In the last post we explored how stone mason Harriet carved a piece of York’s history into a distillery entrance stone. Now we introduce you to Emily Stubbs, a York-based artist and ceramicist whose original artwork adorns Cooper King gin bottles.
Having Emily through a mutual friend and falling in love with her colourful and vivid ceramics at an exhibition, we invited her to bring her talent to the table to create something original for the distillery’s signature release – Cooper King Dry Gin.
Having discovered a passion for ceramics whilst studying a foundation degree in Art and Design, Emily graduated with a BA(Hons) in Ceramics in 2007 from the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff. Now working from Pica Studios in the centre of York, Emily creates ceramic vessels that are concerned with exploring the relationship between colour, form and texture.
Taking inspiration from original marbling in the Cooper King family volumes, Emily put down the clay and instead drew on her artistic skills to bring together paper, ink and water in an array of beautiful coloured patterns, creating a series of original marbled artworks. The chosen design is one with playful movement and bold colours that best represented the gin’s botanicals. The finished label being functional yet artistic, intriguing and bold, and which nods to the Cooper King heritage.
Images from left to right: Inside cover of the family volumes; Emily’s marbling; in the studio; final label applied to the Dry Gin.
That gin went on to win an international design award, so it was only a matter of time before we approached Emily again for her creative input; this time for the new Herb Gin. Distilled with fresh basil, fragrant lemongrass and aromatic clove, the label needed to reflect the Herb Gin’s fresh and herbaceous flavours. Emily’s vivid ceramics instantly came to mind.
Fascinated by the juxtaposition of contrasting elements in her work, Emily sketches, draws and collages to experiment with line, colour, texture and mark making. She translates this process into clay, developing the relationship between simple vessel forms and complex surface decoration.
"Having enjoyed collaborating with Chris and Abbie on their first label I was delighted to be asked to produce artwork for the label of their new Herb Gin. This time using the surface of my ceramic vessels as inspiration. The chosen vessel is slab built out of 'sheets' of clay before layers of coloured slips and glazes are built up to create depth and texture. Chris and Abbie wanted strong mark making with a vibrant fresh colour to help set the tone of their delicious new gin."
The result is stunning, and the deep green colour reflects the fact that the gin is produced using 100% green energy and each bottle plants one sq metre of woodland in the Yorkshire Dales, reducing our carbon footprint and improving the area’s biodiversity.
Emily’s creativity and deep understanding of form and decoration turns a throw-away bottle into a stylish, functional and (most importantly) reusable asset - perfect for the gin refill scheme. Bring your empty Dry or Herb Gin bottle back to the distillery for a refill and save £6 off the bottle price.
Art is not just for hanging on walls. Cooper King’s relationship with Emily is a prime example of how artists and businesses can collaborate to bring brand stories to life and engage wider audiences.
Emily is co-founder of art&, the highly successful annual York art show which brings together practicing artists, illustrators, jewellers, sculptors and ceramicists from around the country to showcase quality, original artworks in Yorkshire. The 2019 event at York Racecourse boasted 120 artists, interactive areas, installations, live music, talks and was an excellent platform for buyers, collectors and art enthusiasts to meet, connect, and buy or commission direct from the artists. Emily also mentors emerging artists through the art& RAW Talent Award, offering support in business development through expert mentoring, group workshops & exhibition space. The programme has helped launch the careers of over 50 artists over the past 10 years.