Nestled in Nassau, Bahamas Botanicals is more than a distillery – it’s a tribute to the islands’ lush natural bounty. Since 2008, founders Andy and Juan have turned local plants, herbs and fruits into handcrafted spirits that capture the essence of the Bahamas.

Rooted in generations of Bahamian tradition, the project celebrates native plants long valued for medicine, nourishment, and beauty. By working closely with local farmers and researchers, Bahamas Botanicals transforms this heritage into a source of national pride – much like other countries’ signature spirits. The distillery’s mission extends beyond fine craftsmanship. It’s about empowering local growers, preserving agricultural heritage and building a sustainable future for Bahamian communities and the economy.

Each bottle embodies the islands’ vibrant spirit: sun, soil and sea distilled into a singular Bahamian experience: Bahamian Farming in a Bottle.

Design by Typesense Graphic Design with illustration by Studio Gudulab and Channarong Pherngjanda. Printing by Graficas Vidal & Armadans.

Between Too Late & Too Early is an exhibition catalogue for artist Andrea Chung’s acclaimed mid-career survey at the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami. Through her work, Andrea examines the legacies of slavery and colonialism in the Caribbean via explorations and reworking of archival material. Although the themes she deals with are difficult, her work is exceptionally beautiful, and I wanted typography of her catalogue to mimic this beauty.

Roslindale – “a balancing act of style, service, and sentiment” – was selected as the title and heading typeface because, in it, I found lovely alignment with Andrea’s work, given that its designer also reworked archival material (1890s De Vinne and its successors) to present something that addresses the past, while feeling very contemporary. The cutout image treatment of Roslindale on the cover of the book is also a nod to Andrea’s work with collages. While Roslindale was doing the most on essay openers, pull quotes, and such, balance was created through the clean functionality of Aeonik to help clearly convey the concepts in the essay texts, and for its readability at small sizes for the captions.

At Plantain, we transform life's stories into bespoke books.

This book is about a gentleman named Lennox.

There is an aura of ease that surrounds him, and as he recounted his outdoor adventures, and the decades of work he put into building one of the Caribbean’s most successful companies (that his children lead today), it was always with humility, candor and humor that he shared his stories.

His values were evident from the start of the project – integrity, kindness, curiosity – and we thank Lennox for letting us be a part of this episode in his life.

As you take a look at this project, consider that the book’s design – from the colors to the typeface and size – was inspired by one of Lennox’s truest loves: the Caribbean Sea.

Edited by Silvia Fernández and Gui Bonsiepe in Argentina and published by Blücher in Brazil, Historia del diseño en América Latina y el Caribe is the main reference book for the history of industrial and graphic design in Latin America. It includes essays on the history of these disciplines in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Uruguay and Venezuela, by local researchers, as well as contributions by several European authors. Designed in Buenos Aires by the Marca studio and set in Borges including Borges Título Blanca (Alejandro Lo Celso) and Univers Condensed (Adrian Frutiger).

Self-titled LP from zouk group Super Combo, directed by Elie Bianay. Released in 1977 by Disques Debs International. The design, by Daniel Le Noury, gets much of its super-’70s flavor from the prominent use of Baby Teeth.

[More info at Discogs]

Design for Maa’ Deyo restaurant – an intercontinental kitchen between latitude 23.5° north and 23.5° south: North Africa, South America and the Caribbean.

Focussing on the first appearance and the modifications for the logo design, African and South American fabrics, patterns and handwritten signs lead the way to Kobe by VJ-Type. More subtle the alternate letters and stylistic glyphs seem to suggest Asian and Caribbean influences to this visual identity. Futura adds counterbalance with its strong but elegant attitude.

A multidimensional company history book and business memoir

At Plantain, we craft bespoke family and company history books.

Charlotte Elias entrusted us with helping her father, Emile Elias, honour the 50th company anniversary of a group he founded, and that today includes the number one indigenous construction company in the Caribbean (NH).

This story starts with Emile’s parents who, like many other migrants searching for someplace better, left their home in Lebanon in the 1920s, with little more than their stuffed cardboard suitcases and a will to re-create their life an ocean away.

This book captures the intertwined narrative of key players and the historical events that shaped Emile and, by extension, the company. It also looks to the future and sets out the unique culture and values that will help the company strategize for the next 5 decades (especially important for incoming employees and future generations). Finally, the book and its story will help humanise the company, and the stories collected during the process will be utilized to help it connect authentically with the public.

After hundreds of hours of writing, developmental editing, research, and design, our team developed a story that had been over 50 years in the making.

Our work also informed the backbone to a corporate film, web content, the company anniversary celebrations and speeches.

1,500 copies of this book were printed on Accent Opaque Text White Smooth paper (148gsm), allowing for a super smooth finish for near matte print fidelity.

This book was also part of a wider company rebranding, and the following fonts were settled upon: LL Replica and Freight Text.

You can learn more about the project on plantain.me.

Beston Consulting, formerly known as BBFL Caribbean Limited, is a multi-disclipinary consultancy with offices in Trinidad and Barbados. The company profile was designed using Beston’s corporate typeface, LL Akkurat.

In the book Stolen Time: Black Fad Performance and the Calypso Craze, Shane Vogel explores the cultural history and impact of American appropriation of Trinidadian music and dance.

Designer Isaac Tobin’s collage-style cover offsets staid, stable elements (cut-paper leaves; text in Futura and Rockwell) with moments of energetic poise (silhouetted dancers; text in Cortado).

Source: www.imdb.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Movie poster with illustration by Huntley Burgher

Smile Orange is a 1976 satirical film set in Jamaica. It follows the day-to-day life of Ringo, played by Carl Bradshaw, a smooth-talking waiter and con-man. The film explores the tourism industry in the Caribbean and seems to suggest there are similarities to slavery in that industry. — Wikipedia

The typeface that is used throughout the movie’s identity – from titles and poster to the cover of the soundtrack – is Eightball. Chances are it was in parts picked for its o glyph, which doesn’t only resemble the eponymous eight ball, but also works for suggesting a juicy orange. Canada Type named their digital revival Orotund, acknowledging the fact that the o with the off-centered counter is its hallmark character.

Source: www.youtube.com License: All Rights Reserved.

The titles were designed by Mako Oike.

Source: www.youtube.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: www.youtube.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: www.youtube.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Source: www.hhv.de Image: HHV. License: All Rights Reserved.

The original motion picture sound track was arranged and composed by Melba Liston and released by Knuts Music Inc. The cover illustration and jacket design is by Huntley Burgher. This image shows the 2017 reissue.

From Flea Market Funk:

Even though [Smile Orange] looks at Jamaica’s social class struggles and every day life, it seems to be a far cry from the issues and struggles you see in the aforementioned movies [The Harder They Come (1972), Rockers (1978), and Countryman (1982)]. More like a light hearted comedy, there is a flicker of hope for Smile Orange: the soundtrack.

Smile Orange is peppered with some decent instrumental Reggae, as well as Calypso, and Jazz. Having been to Jamaica, I can only feel like this is the kind of stuff pumping from the speakers all through the resorts in the mid ’70s. The soundtrack was written and composed by American bandleader/ trombonist Melba Liston and recorded at Ken Khouri’s Federal Records in Jamaica [what later] became the massive Tuff Gong.

Source: www.jumpuprecords.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Eightball with swash alternates strikes me as an appropriate choice for this 1970s calypso carnival record. It was released by Dynamic Sounds in 1974, after Byron Lee and the Dragonaires had played at Trinidad & Tobago’s carnival for the first of many times.

With an excellent Caribbean infused Funk version of “Also sprach Zarathustra”. — oopswhoops

French pressing distributed by Soul Posters, Paris. Their added logo is based on ITC Pioneer.

Well, that’s quite the J there.

Universal Impex is a “leading distributor of Caribbean and South Asian foods, seasonings, sauces, and other products including the Cool Runnings, British Class and Mekong brands.”