After looking at the etching done at Dartington Crystal I saw how the look of the illustrations changed depending on what was on the back of the bottle.

I need the text to be easy to read and stand out, therefore it has to be bold while also being the right size to be fully readable from the front of the bottle.

I took the measurements of the bottle, placing them onto a flat surface so I could see the template I've got to work with for both the text and illustration. I have decided not to include the neck of the bottle in this template.

Proportions:

height total = 146mm

height (not including ridges) = 139mm

circumference of bottle = 280mm

Visible front area (including curve) = 120mmx139mm

visible front area = 90x139mm

The text and main details should stay in the visual front area, whereas the illustrations will be able to go across the visual front area (including curve) and break the grid. I will need to test the etched design layout with both the lighting and liquid to see how they fit. Once I know what works on one bottle the proportions of the other three should be very similar.

I have eight gin bottles in total to work with. Four of these will make up the final presented designs and at least one other should be left in case of damage or large etching mistakes. This leaves three bottles for layout experimentation and development. As well as the Gin bottles I have other glasses to practice the process of etching on and build my confidence using the tools.