Saltwater was two friends, a recipe and four stockists in Ericeira. They had a soda made with sea fennel and kelp, a name nobody could trademark, and cans ordered from a supplier who needed artwork in five weeks. They wanted to look like a coastal brand without the surfboards and seagulls every coastal brand already uses. Every can also had to read in a fridge door, at arm's length, in bad light.

We named it first — Saltwater Soda Co. cleared in two markets — then drew each flavour as horizontal bands of sea, weed and sand, printed straight on brushed aluminium so the metal stays part of the colour. One band system covers all four flavours and any future ones. We hand-delivered press proofs to the can line in Spain to check the inks on metal.

The cans shipped on time and went from 4 to 31 stockists in a year, including two national supermarket chains. Buyers told the founders the shelf read as a family from the aisle. A fifth flavour launched last spring with no new design work — just a new band of colour. The founders now run the brand with a two-page guide and no agency on retainer.