What If It’s… Soda?

Recently, I’ve been seeing the beverage industry, specifically craft beer and healthy soda, release some really fun and engaging can designs that bring artistic illustration to the forefront. And I’ve really become a fan and think it’s awesome! Some of them are more abstract, while others feel like you’ve been transported to a beach or coming face to face with a pirate! Many of these illustrations also remind me of music gig posters that have been stripped off the wall and wrapped around a cylinder. As someone who not only grew up drinking soda, but also has a love for illustration and music, the wheels started turning in my head. What if I create a soda can wrap illustration combining these 3 elements for fun? Then, the next question was, how? The answer would come in the form of 2 other questions. What would an album taste like and what would the illustration look like that wraps around the fictional can? Hmmm…

The Album

I remember my Mom driving me to Bradlees department store in 1996. I was 10 years old and so excited to use my own money to purchase Reba McEntire’s latest cd “What If It’s You”. I remember reaching up to the white rack and grabbing the cd down and looking at the cover of the cd case, thinking, I can’t wait to get home to listen to this. And listen to it I did, especially over the weekends. Growing up, my Mom would make me clean my room which included changing the sheets on our beds. I can distinctly remember every Saturday morning turning my 3 piece stereo system on, selecting the disc tray that cd was in and I would get to cleaning and singing. By the time the cd hit track 8, “She’s Callin’ It Love,” I had already taken the old sheets off the bed and was doing a kids’ version on hospital corners with the clean ones. To this day anytime I hear a song from that album or that specific track, I get taken right back to those Saturday mornings when I was a kid.

This album is full of upbeat tempoed tunes paired with a few ballads, offering drum and guitar parts that provide an extra kick of spice, coupled with bluesy undertones and Reba’s smooth yet powerful voice to top it all off. While much of the album is about finding love, it’s also about discovery and self reflection. Finding oneself either after a relationship ends or during one. There’s a layer of hope throughout the album offering the freeing feeling of going after the life you want contrasted by the pain of realizing a relationship is falling apart. Given the themes of the album and its many references to travel, driving and cars, listening to the album, especially the upbeat songs, makes one feel as if they are riding shotgun along with the song’s character’s as they road trip either toward love or away from it.

The Flavor

The flavor was an interesting thing to think about and ponder. Taking something you hear and translating it into taste. In listening to the album, I was pulling out the emotions I felt and the instruments and vocals I heard to try to decipher what the ingredients could be. I also told myself I didn’t have to be complicated. From the start, I wanted it to be a cola base, maybe that’s because that’s what I’m most familiar with, not sure, but it felt like the right fit. 

When listening to the album, you notice Reba’s vocals, how her voice could soothe you during her ballads and then get you pumped up during the more upbeat songs. As mentioned before, I felt this record also had some bluesy undertones providing a sense of different type grooveness to some of the songs. As a result, I chose vanilla as the part of the cola base. I felt it not only captured that smooth part of Reba’s voice when it’s vulnerable or before she kicks it up a notch but also the smooth groove of the blues, I could hear. With the album themes having an element of sass, around breaking free or going after what you want, I knew there had to be something that had spice, that might simmer on one’s taste buds which is why cinnamon is the next ingredient. It’s a spice that’s noticeable, enhances the overall flavor but doesn’t consistently overpower. Lastly, I wanted a flavor that really brought a kick, so I went with hot sauce. Not only because of Reba’s powerhouse voice, that brings the songs to another level, but also the music, when in certain songs the drums would just kick in and almost surprise you in a way.

The Illustration

After listening to this album on repeat for a couple days in a row, I knew instantly the design had to involve a car driving, because not only did 7 of the songs have some reference to driving or travel, but many of the songs were about finding yourself, breaking free or going after something you want. It felt like the, “I’m hitting the road to figure things out” mentality. 

I then used the car as a vehicle to put in some easter eggs, hinting to some of the song tracks. The tin cans on the car are a reference to the lyrics from “I’d Rather Ride Around with You” where the bride’s cousin is saying how she should really be at the wedding by now because they’re already tying tin cans to the car. In the passenger seat there is a map and a sealed bottle of wine. Don’t worry, no one is drinking and driving. The map is a reference to the song “State of Grace” where the character embarks on a road trip and has a “front seat full of road maps” to help guide her. In the song “Fear of Being Alone” the characters order another bottle of wine as they get to know one another. Hanging from the rearview mirror is a class ring, a nod to “She’s Callin’ it Love,” a song about high school love as the young girl hopes the guy she likes will give her his class ring. On the ring is the year 1996 which was the year this album was released. The windshield has a heart shaped crack in it, which is a reference to 2 songs, Never Had a Reason To” where there is a lyric that states how the character gets into a “head on collision” with love and then the song “How Was I To Know” where it’s in reference to the “with shattered dreams and a broken heart’ lyric. The car is then set in a scene, driving down a desert-like road with the sun setting in the distance, which is another reference to the song “State of Grace.” 

Like a beverage can wrap, this illustration has its Nutrition Facts. However, instead of listing the soda ingredients, I listed some themes that I felt relate to the album along with the percentages based on how much the theme was on the album. 

The soda name “Heart and Fire” was inspired by not only the love and adventure themes of the albums but also the feelings I felt when listening to Reba’s voice and how she has so much passion and attitude when singing some of the songs. I typeset the soda name in a serif style typeface that reflects the more complicated emotions of the album. The soda flavor description uses a simple sans serif typeface that is set in a thin and italicized font style to remind us that while the flavor is simple and smooth, it offers a little kick.

Given that this is a self-initiated project, I developed a fictitious soda brand called “Cadence”, which is a music term referring to the “beat, time, or measure of rhythmical motion or activity”, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. The logo designed for the company is a circle with the headstock of an acoustic string guitar in the center and the words “Cadence” in a sans serif typeface arching over the top with the letter “d” made into a music note. At the bottom of the circle, I have the tagline “Handcrafted Brewed Soda” typeset in a more stylized sans serif typeface. 

When determining the color scheme for this project, it was a no brainer, it had to be red. Reba is synonymous with the color red, from her red hair to the dress color she often wears when performing her hit song “Fancy”. So I chose red as a tribute to her and then coupled it with more neutral colors given the desert theme and a navy to provide a darker, yet softer color for shadows, etc as opposed to using a stark black. 

The Wrap Up

In general I wanted the overall feeling of this design to feel free, which is why I chose a convertible and have the girl’s hair blowing behind her. So I guess the question is, is she running away from love or is she running toward it? 

Disclaimer: This was done as a personal project, combining some passions of mine. This is in no way affiliated with Reba McEntire or her company. I am not a music reviewer, food chemist or culinary expert so all comments regarding the analysis of the music and flavors are my own personal thoughts and interpretation. 

If you have any questions about this personal project, don’t hesitate to reach out via social media @amcreativedesign15 or my website. 

Happy creating! 

~Ann Marie 🙂