The Delicate Balance of Good Website Design Green Hat Gin blends old aesthetics with new technology for a stirring online experience.

When retired lawyer Michael Lowe and son-in-law John Uselton launched New Columbia Distillers, the first distillery in the nation's capital since Prohibition, they were thirsting for a website and brand that would capitalize on the story of their inaugural brew, Green Hat Gin.

Paying homage to D.C.'s spirited past, the name nods to infamous bootlegger George Cassiday, whose trademark was a green fedora.

As the startup's primary marketing tool, the website needed to engage the company's hip, web-savvy target demographic and feel as custom and unique as the craft distillery's limited-distribution spirits. Lowe and Uselton turned to renowned D.C. creative firm Design Army, whose clients range from The Washington Ballet to Bloomingdale's. The 11-person shop, led by husband-and-wife graphic designers Jake and Pum Lefebure, designed Green Hat's logo, with its cleverly integrated hat motif, and conceived a website that feels as if the user is flipping through old-style newspapers and catalogs from the 1920s.