Xertz struck me as a ridiculous and unnecessary word for imbibing since we already have so many: down, gulp, guzzle, knock back, quaff, sip, slug, slurp, swallow, swig, swill, sup, toss back. But I loved the potential of the X as a mouth. So a typographic solution seemed in the offing. I cut out the letters on a scroll saw, painted them, and figured out how to mount the bottle and have the word flow from it to the mouth. I created a background, which took several layers of different handmade paper and lots of Mod Podge. Then everything came together and zzztreX or Xertz was born.