Italian and French Riviera influences have been flooding beverage design for the past few years because they tap into something aspirational. Plus, there’s nothing better than the feeling of a cold drink on a hot afternoon somewhere beautiful.
And speaking of aspirational, Côte Citron was created for The Rochambeau Club, a brilliantly fabricated fictional members-only club on the French Riviera. The club doesn’t exist, but the fantasy is detailed enough that it doesn’t even matter. There’s a fictional website, menus with pricing, staff vacancies, and a Wes Anderson-inspired Instagram account. Côte Citron extends that universe into beer, made with real lemons from the Côte d’Azur by an independent brewery committed to keeping the good life of the French Riviera, imaginary or otherwise, very much alive.
The can is narrowed to just two colors throughout the design, with a small illustrated lemon leaf sprig at the base of the oval as the only decorative element. The typography balances a simple bold sans-serif with two different scripts, creating a luxe look and feel, but somehow, it’s all perfectly unfussy. The whole thing looks like it belongs in the cooler of a (real) French Riviera tennis club.
