Blue Note collage label design celebrates jazz

New York based Blue Note Jazz Club has partnered with Wandering Barman, a craft cocktail brand and tasting room based in Brooklyn, NY, on a new signature drink The Blue Note. The new drink will debut at Blue Note’s 2023 summer jazz festival, in bottles designed by Brooklyn-based design agency, Team.   

John Clark, co-founder and creative director at Team, said: ‘In flavor and in aesthetic, the new bottled version of The Blue Note is designed to celebrate the bar’s incredible contribution to jazz history, and its ongoing future as a cultural cornerstone for New Yorkers and jazz lovers around the world.’  

Since 1981, Blue Note has been a cultural destination in New York City and remains one of the premiere jazz clubs in the world. Leading up to the club’s 2023 summer jazz festival, Blue Note joined forces with Wandering Barman to bring its signature quality and craftsmanship to an improved, bottled version of its Blue Note cocktail.  

Team, a longtime collaborator of Wandering Barman, worked across the project to create a custom label and packaging design that embraced Wandering Barman’s eccentric spirit and Blue Note’s renowned legacy.   

Team’s visual direction embraces the out-of-the-box spirit of jazz with hand-built collages composed primarily of archival photographs of jazz legends performing on Blue Note’s storied Greenwich Village stage. This collage element also nods to the musical element that gave the bar, and the drink, its name – a ‘blue note’ is an imperfect note between the cracks of conventional pitches.   

Stephanie Zabala, associate design director at Team said: ‘Just as a blue note is played with purpose, the Blue Note design practices chaos with intention.’ 

It was crucial that the packaging reflected both brands in the collaboration authentically, nodding to elements of the other while remaining balanced as a single identity.   

Incorporating Wandering Barman’s collage style, each of the three labels is created from two images interlaced with each other to create an unexpected optical illusion and brand-new composition.   

Team’s designers physically hand-cut and arranged Blue Note’s archival photography to create the collages, putting a real spotlight on the artistry at the heart of this product.  

The result is a bottle that captures the distinct Wandering Barman experience, fueled by the joyous energy of jazz music, and serves as a keepsake of Blue Note’s prestigious history as a cultural institution.   

‘The concept really resonates with both the Blue Note and Wandering Barman ethos — experimentation, unexpectedness, and artistry. Each collage artwork is created by combining two distinct images into one abstract, yet melodic composition. Together, the set of three labels feature an ensemble of instruments to capture the collaborative nature of music. As a result, the concept evokes the energy and spirit of jazz and the ephemeral nature of each performance,’ Zabala concluded. 

The Blue Note bottled cocktail will be available for purchase at Blue Note’s summer jazz festival and at all Blue Note locations around the world.