00 — Brand Origin
Duel MFG & Supply Co.
Crafted in Los Angeles.
Brand Identity · Packaging Design · Product Photography · 2012
Duel MFG & Supply Co. was a small-batch men's grooming line built from scratch in Los Angeles — formulated, branded, photographed, and launched by Chad Jordan and Alex Harman. Pomade, matte clay paste, after shave, cologne. All natural ingredients. All handcrafted in limited runs.
The brand identity drew from 1800s barber shop culture and Civil War-era apothecary aesthetics — period-specific typography, a numbered product system, hand-signed labels warranted by the co-proprietors. The result was something that felt genuinely found rather than designed — which is exactly what it took to get noticed.
Wallpaper Magazine named it an Editors Pick in May 2012. The Dieline — the global authority on packaging design — featured it in April 2013. This is where the R/D philosophy was first proven: not on a client's brand, but on one we built ourselves.
"The identity is period-specific — rooted in 1800s barber shop culture. The typography references old bourbon labels and Civil War military paperwork. The intent was to blur the line between past and present until you couldn't see the seam."
The Dieline is the global benchmark for packaging design — their editorial team doesn't feature products, they feature points of view. The Duel feature called out the brand's period-specific identity system, the numbered product nomenclature, and the intentional fusion of past and present that runs through every element of the label design.
"Every principle on the About page was proven here first — on something we built ourselves, with our own money, our own formulas, our own photography. Wallpaper and The Dieline didn't respond to the marketing. They responded to the resonance."
