Malört

Love it or hate it, Malört is an iconic liqueur out of Chicago, and has developed a cult following of people expressing their strong feelings toward this bitter drink. I had an incredible time working on designs for their brand, including a summer apparel set and a bucket hat sold at Riot Fest.

In the months leading up to Riot Fest 2023 — a popular Chicago-based music festival featuring rock, punk, and metal acts — I was tasked with developing part of a whole suite of festival-themed items for Malört’s booth, while avoiding overt references to the festival itself and leaning into the city that hosts both the performances and the liqueur. This led to the development of a bucket hat containing a repeating pattern of crowdsurfing Malört bottle mascots that ended up being a massive hit at the merch tent.

Due to the success of the Riot Fest bucket hat, I was requested to develop a matching button-up and shorts highlighting a mix of fan-submitted and existing taglines while keeping the same cartoony feel.

Lines like “What Soap Washes Its Mouth Out With” and “Kick Your Mouth In The Balls” illustrate the love-hate cult following behind the brand, and a primary color palette pulled from the golden-yellow liqueur and Chicago flag ties back to the local heritage as well as playing on the 4-color process in which comics using such speech bubbles are printed.