George Smith Illustration Portrait for Glenlivet

George Smith Illustration Portrait for Glenlivet by Jody Clark.

I was commissioned to create an illustration of Glenlivet’s George Smith , the man behind the whisky made at his distillery. George Smith died in 1871 and his son John Gordon Smith inherited the distillery.

As part of the brief to produce an illustration portrait of George Smith, I was given by the agency handling the global re-brand project various reference imagery. The key to this brief was producing an illustration that would show George as a strong, charismatic bold man in the portrait position. No portrait reference imagery was provided, so I had to understand the features and details of how his face may have looked on an angle and build up from there.

Producing this piece for a major beverages brand was very exciting and I enjoyed the process, especially seeing it on the product all around the world as they begin the roll out of the new brand.

Pernod Richard, a major beverages business now owns Glenlivet and has described the new illustration portrait as “more modern, fresher, younger” and says: “‘We hope that the modern, yet timeless new look will appeal to our existing drinkers, but also invite those who are yet to discover single malt Scotch into the fold.’