STIKS DISTILLERY & CO.
A collection of various pieces that consisted of my MFA Thesis. Stiks Distillery & Co. explored narratives tied to conceptual branding. Each facet is connected to the overarching story of my interests in design, branding, and my familial heritage.
CONCEPT
During the late 1920s, a Texas corn Farmer by the name of Joseph ‘Joe’ Moelep took his crop and turned it into a profit that would soon become what Stiks Distillery & Company is today. Joseph started in the deep woods of Southern Texas where he built a makeshift shed on his family-shared land spending many nights creating backwoods booze during the age of Prohibition. He and a few trusty pals traveled 30 miles through the Texas woods to deliver their liquor to the Cedar Bayou for disbursement four to five times a week. Following a specific route each time with the aim to avoid being caught, Joseph had a knack for the booze smuggling business, so it was no surprise that when Prohibition was lifted in 1933 he continued the booze business, legally. After 1933, the small shed distillery became a family affair and Joseph’s daughters, Johanna and Alda, grew the business to a whole new level. Nowadays, Stiks is a household name in the field of liquor and continues to hold its original ideologies as it did in the beginning. Staying true to our agricultural roots, every Stiks liquor is created with the help of small grain farmers across the US. So while you’re sippin’ on your drink of choice, know that it’s giving back to the little man.
