The Client and Their Brief
Nicholson is a premium London gin brand with a history stretching back to 1736. When the brand launched its pre-mixed Negroni, it needed a campaign that could introduce the product with the right level of sophistication while giving it a distinctive visual identity.
The creative starting point came from Josh Robinson, Art Director at 17days, who developed the idea of a ‘Soho Glow’ — a visual world inspired by Soho after dark. Warm light, neon colour, rich shadows, reflections and the atmosphere of a great London bar were all part of the idea.
From there, it was down to us to work out how to translate that idea into photography. The set, surfaces, props, styling, lighting and production all had to come together while keeping Nicholson’s premium positioning and the character of the Negroni at the heart of the images.
It was a project that required trust in the production process: a strong creative starting point, followed by the freedom to develop it through photography and making.
The Soho Glow
The idea of a ‘Soho Glow’ gave us a strong creative starting point.
Rather than trying to create the atmosphere with lighting alone, we wanted to build as much of the environment as possible for real.
We went looking for materials that would give us the right character and texture, including timber sourced from a scrapyard. We then scorched the wood ourselves to create the surface we wanted for the shoot.
Those details might seem small, but they make a difference. The surface beneath a bottle becomes part of the photograph, influencing reflections, colour and the overall feel of the image.
Stylist Yvonne Achato brought her own expertise and excellent eye for detail to the production. From the glassware and props through to the finer details of the drinks, everything needed to feel considered without looking overly arranged.
We even researched how to make beautifully clear ice cubes, because the right details matter when you’re photographing drinks at this level.
There was a lot of making, sourcing and experimenting behind what ultimately looks quite simple in the finished photography.
What We Did
Making the Bottle Belong
The technical challenge was to make a highly reflective bottle work within an environment full of colour, glass, light and reflections — without losing the bottle itself.
Our lighting needed to create the warmth and atmosphere of the ‘Soho Glow’, while still giving Nicholson the clean, premium presence you’d expect from a brand with its history.
We used controlled lighting to introduce warmth and colour into the scene, with neon and reflective surfaces creating depth around the product. Glass, ice, liquid and highlights all needed to be carefully considered.
This is where technical drinks photography and creative photography meet. It isn’t enough to light the bottle well in isolation. The lighting has to support the wider image, sit comfortably within the concept and keep the product looking like itself.
The aim was to create imagery that felt atmospheric and tactile, while retaining the precision and control expected from premium product photography.
Experimenting with AI
The project also gave us an opportunity to experiment with generative AI at a point when it was still a relatively new part of the creative toolkit.
For a small number of the straight-through bottle shots, we used generative AI to create additional background environments.
The product photography itself remained entirely photographic. The high-resolution bottle and physical surface were photographed in the studio as normal. The AI-generated backgrounds were then composited behind the original bottle and surface in Photoshop.
This meant we could extend the visual world of the campaign while retaining the detail, quality and control of the original product photography.
In 2023, this was still a relatively new approach. For us, it was an early example of combining emerging technology with established photographic craft — using AI where it added something, while keeping the important elements of the image firmly under our control.
From Studio to Store Window
The finished images gave Nicholson a distinctive visual identity for its Negroni launch, combining the atmosphere of the ‘Soho Glow’ concept with the precision expected from premium drinks photography.
One of the finished images was subsequently printed at large scale and displayed in the window of Elys of Wimbledon, supporting the Negroni launch and its in-store promotion.
Seeing one of our images at that scale, being used in a real retail environment, was a great moment for us. We even went to see it for ourselves.
Mark and Will outside Elys of Wimbledon, seeing the Nicholson Negroni campaign in situ.
It was a good reminder that campaign photography needs to work beyond the studio and beyond the presentation deck. It needs to hold together when it is enlarged, printed and put into the real world.
How It Looks
The Results
A campaign that gave Nicholson Negroni a distinctive visual presence at launch, with imagery designed to work across campaign and retail applications.
The project brought together a strong creative starting point with the production expertise, craft and experimentation needed to turn it into a finished campaign — exactly the kind of work we enjoy.
Planning a drinks campaign?
From product photography and creative set builds to full campaign production, we can help turn a strong idea into imagery that works in the real world.
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