Nihilo

We made the whole thing up. Three years ago, when a founder approached us with his idea for Casa Malka tequila, all there was was a name. At that time, we knew nothing about the spirits industry. And that was exactly why we were able to create something so fresh that didn't feel like anything else on the market - we started with fresh eyes. We would soon find out that creating a custom bottle is incredibly iterative, involves many different people and moving parts, and requires wildly strong attention to detail. We started with a 2D sketch of the bottle and then moved straight into 3D renders - before the product or bottle or tequila was real. To get the final bottle to match our original vision, we went through countless rounds of iterations, revisions, and final tweaks with industrial designers, fabrication specialists, and packaging vendors. Every detail mattered - the degree of the bottle shoulder (which we managed to get as close to 90 degrees as possible), the distance of the glass faceting, the cork shape, the depth of the "Welcome to the Queendom" emboss. The list goes on. This bottle design process represents less than 1% of the total work we did to build the Casa Malka brand world, and our involvement has since moved from agency to co-founders. This thing that started in our brains can now be purchased online, and that is very wild. https://casamalka.com/

A natural-potency cannabis brand geared towards Midwestern moms (us)? Yes, please! Introducing All Purpose Flower. For your everyday baking [getting mildly baked] needs. Named & branded by Nihilo in partnership with Jesse Meighan & Jules Barbera. More to come from this pantry staple.

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ^ This was the (ok, summarized) brief for Giggly, a new THC tonic soda, bringing low-dose bubbly goodness to the ever-widening cannabis market. What we love about this product, and products like it, is how predictable the dosing is and how quickly the product takes effect -- better yet, the buzz doesn't last a million hours. Beyond that, we at Nihilo love laughing, having fun, and making really cool sh*t. Hence, the "ha" on repeat. Through our work in naming, strategy, and visual and verbal brand identity, we helped fast-track the Giggly brand launch and increase interest from investors and vendors. We created three distinct brand worlds, all within the same brand universe, using custom, child-like illustrations and stream-of-consciousness verbal storytelling. All the brand pieces can be plucked and pulled from the toolkit for whatever applications are needed. And soon you can drink it. Wins all around!

"Let's do a quick re-brand for now and we'll do the complete re-brand in 1year/2years/etc." We've heard this a lot from clients. What they are really saying is, "I'm not happy with what I have now, but I don't have enough information to do it properly yet. What's the harm in doing something quick that looks good enough for now?" The problem with this approach is twofold: 1. You are sending inconsistent messages to your audience when you re-brand twice. 2. When it comes time to "do it right," you will already have invested more resources than you realize in establishing this new "interim" brand. Re-branding will be a lot more difficult if you already have something that "kind of works." Our advice: A "quick" interim re-brand is never quick. Instead, wait. There's a lot you can do with what you have now. Choose which of your existing brand elements to emphasize. Evolve the language you are using. Gather all the information you need so that when the time is right, you can invest properly and completely nail it. Nihilo

It's been a minute. So excited for this project to launch. Casa Malka Welcome to the Queendom 👑 Casa Malka Tequila, Nihilo

Don't make work that looks good but lacks courage. Nihilo

Demographics are dangerous and are inherently prejudiced.