The Malt Whisky Project
When the communications collective 26, a group of like-minded design and creative individuals across the UK, displayed its work 26 Letters last year at the London Design Festival, the project drew acclaim. The initiative inspired Scottish member, Stuart Delves, to create an original project for Scotland, and the result is 26 Malts, a celebration of whisky and the 26 labels here, created in conjunction with The Malt Whisky Society.
“We took the model from 26 Letters,” says Delves. “I wanted something that was a lot more commercial. I’d done a lot of work with whisky brands and the Malt Whisky Society already, so it seemed a natural fit.”
Pulling contributors from the collective’s 300 plus membership, Delves was keen to focus on Scotland, but not exclusively. “I saw it as a way of launching a Scottish chapter of 26,” he says. “I took the project to The Malt Whisky Society and it was incredibly receptive and when we put it out to members by email, places were taken up within 24 hours.”
Eighteen teams from Scotland took part, with the remaining eight contributing from England. Each team was given an unnamed whisky to taste and asked to convey the taste and aroma when they were creating the labels. “It was quite a bold move for them [the Society],” says Delves. “The designs are completely diverse.”
The teams have contributed for free, but will get free membership of the Society and a bottle of their labelled whisky, the range of which will also go on sale to Society members from September. The designs will be on display at the Society’s venue in Edinburgh’s Queen Street from 1 August to 4 September, when it will move to the Society’s London Members’ Rooms from 5 September to 1 October as part of the London Design Festival. As each team was working on their designs, they were encouraged to keep a journal. The 26 journals are to be condensed into a book, 26 Malts – Some Journey, which will be launched at The Edinburgh International Book Festival on 15th August.
For more information about the project or the 26 collective in Scotland, contact Stuart Delves at stuart@henzteeth.com