This year, the Mark Anthony Group handed us nine exciting projects, each with its own set of exciting challenges and specific solutions. While most were for wine brands, Dillon’s Small Batch Distillers—a gin brand—stood out with a refreshing challenge. This B2C website project allowed us to apply our creativity in a new way, with different considerations from our wine projects. It was the perfect way to cap off our year, bringing fresh perspectives to our UX/UI design and website strategy while staying true to our creative process. And yes, it was as spirited as you’d expect.
Whitney Rorison - Distillery Marketing Manager: “Your entire team’s dedication, professionalism, and love for our brand really shine through.”
What started out as another web project quickly became one near and dear to our hearts. From day one, Dillon's welcomed us in, sharing their story openly and sincerely. It made all the difference to work with a passionate team like theirs—they clearly cared about the brand, which made our job easier. They invited us to understand that passion, complete with some samples that certainly helped our creative (gin &) juices flow. We knew we needed to create something for them that captured their true personality, their passion, and, of course, their spirit.
The secret ingredient to becoming real partners with the Dillon’s team was building trust. One such example was the way we worked together on their Sipping Society membership program. When we started, their membership plans were still being developed, and the existing approach didn’t do enough to inspire new users or convey the value of joining.
Olu, our Senior UX/UI Designer, and Chloe, our UI Designer, worked with the Dillon’s team, including their VP of Marketing and Innovation, through several working sessions to rethink the Sipping Society membership pages. Dillon’s had already been considering changes to the page before we started the project, so we worked hand in hand with them to bring their ideas to life and add more engaging elements. We were able to transform what was once a lackluster feature into something more exciting and easier for new users to see the value of becoming a member.
The Dillon's team exemplified exactly what makes an agency-led web project successful: coming in with clear goals, strong communication, and a willingness to collaborate, much like we outlined in A complete guide to agency-led web projects. The teamwork just clicked, and the end result—a membership experience that felt welcoming and engaging—was something we could all be proud of.
A website is like a window into a company, and we wanted this brand to have a window that showed off everything that makes it great. For Dillon’s, it meant building a brand-new site from scratch. Their team came ready to work, bringing insights, information, and everything we needed to get things started and keep things moving.
During the Explore phase, we quickly realized their old site wasn’t letting their beautiful imagery shine and wasn’t doing justice to the craft and care they put into their products. We saw a chance to highlight their craftsmanship and make their visual story central. Making UX/UI decisions that felt intentional was easy with a team as dedicated as Dillon's.
We moved 107 recipes from the old site, making sure each one reflected Dillon's passion for quality. Now, 77 of those recipes are live, each with custom images and illustrations that show visitors that Dillon's puts as much care into their online content as they do into every bottle they produce.
Dillon’s branding has always caught our eye. Whether we’re catching a glimpse of their ads in the wild or savoring a sip of their gin in a happy hour cocktail, we’ve always known the Dillon’s brand to radiate an undeniable character. Working on this project was a joy partly because the brand has such a clear sense of self.
But a clear sense of self doesn’t always translate to a website. There’s a very specific balance to making sure a brand stays true to itself while giving website visitors the information they’re looking for. We knew that, in this case, visitors needed to feel the brand’s warmth from the moment they landed on the site. Our job was to take their clear brand identity (including custom imagery and illustrations) and turn these assets into a website that balanced a homegrown and handcrafted charm with a structure that could easily evolve and expand in the future.
Speaking of the visitors, it was also important for us to get in the minds of their audience. What do they value? What draws them in, and what makes them stay? As we know, audiences are evolving, and websites need to keep up. In this case, we found that the Dillon’s audience values the indie spirit of crafted, quality local goods. They're also drawn to an authentic brand and the story behind each product. To create a website that directly speaks to them, we used unique textures, custom illustrations, and inviting imagery to evoke that small-batch feel, giving users the sense of stepping right into the distillery itself. At the same time, we made the site easy to navigate and accessible for everyone—from casual gin enthusiasts to long-time dedicated spirit connoisseurs. The final website pulls users in and ensures the brand’s, well, spirit shines through every click. Pun absolutely intended.
It’s one thing to be working with a brand that we admire, but it’s a completely different experience when the team is as intent on collaborating with us as we are with them. It’s what made this project stand out for us. The passion they brought to the project inspired us and, in turn, made the whole process feel less like two teams sitting around a boardroom table and more like trusted partners chatting in a living room over a craft cocktail. We trusted their knowledge of the brand, and they trusted our insights on how to elevate it for web. It was this mutual respect—this balance of expertise from either side—that allowed us to create a site that captures the brand in every detail. The Dillon’s team really did whatever it took to make the site what it is today, and for that, we thank them. Like a great cocktail, this web project required the right mix of ingredients, and we think we got the blend just right.
Whitney Rorison - Distillery Marketing Manager: “We’re absolutely thrilled with the final result and excited to see it out in the world.”
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