Happy New Year! As we embark on 2018, it’s always good to take stock of what you have accomplished in the year prior. Here are our top 7 moments of 2017.

1. The Dieline featured both Jake Busching Wines & Wheelhouse Canned Cocktails : ANY time you get on the Dieline – the leading international blog for packaging design and branding – is a time to celebrate, but twice in 2 months was an honor.

We are excited to announce that Watermark is featured in the 2017 PRINT Regional Design Annual. Judged by the most esteemed graphic design professionals, from Jessica Hische to Ellen Lupton and Aaron Draplin, we could not be more proud to have been selected to be featured amongst such amazing work by amazing designers across the US.

Code Red was a passion project that we took on pro-bono, because we saw it as a worthwhile cause working to solve a gaping need.

For the seventh consecutive year, Watermark was asked to create the campaign artwork for the Virginia Film Festival. Each year, the film festival draws in an increasingly larger crowd with its thoughtful line-up, reflecting on the nation’s current conversations. This year the festival shared over 150 films, with 44 sold out screenings with specials guests including Spike Lee, William H. Macy, Ezra Edelman, Trudie Styler, and Margot Lee Shetterly.

Inspired by this continuous growth,

Hamlet Vineyards approached Watermark looking for brand cohesion across their line of wine labels.

We began with the foundation of all brands, the logo design. We provided a slight update to their wordmark, refreshing the type with a modern sans serif that echoed the original font, for continued brand recognition.

The next step in achieving brand consistency was selecting a single paper stock for all classic-line varietals. A bright white was selected to update the brand from it’s previous off-white substrate,

Raised from near extinction, this rare German beer was brewed in honor of Blue Mountain Brewery’s 10th anniversary (Using the Old English spelling). Custom illustrations and hand-lettering evoke Tolkien art and illuminated text with subtle highlights of foil throughout this beer label design.

The illustration was drawn in pencil, and then hand-painted in watercolor.

A cold foil process was used instead of hot foil to achieve an imperfect,