Conwy Brewery approached me to refresh and update their branding and labeling across their beers to unify the range and appeal to a wider market, in terms of both drinkers and retailers.
Their award-winning beers have gained a strong reputation locally in North Wales, but the dated and disjointed branding has led to a fall-off in retailer interest in the range. The new brewery owners wanted the new labeling to be recognisably Welsh, yet have a more contemporary, fresh appeal to drinkers both locally, or holidaying in Snowdonia and those beyond Wales that want to try our great tasting beers.
The new branding is designed to unify the range across their core range of Traditional Welsh ales and their more contemporary Craft and US-inspired ales.
A new illustration style was devised and created by myself for the whole range (broadening my creative skills!) to give a distinctive backdrop to the beers that would be bold and graphic, but flexible enough to tie together the various beer themes and Welsh/US brew styles. The illustrations draw inspiration from vintage railway and seaside posters from Wales and the US West Coast, but in a simplified and minimalist mix of flat-colour flowing lines. The striking landscapes of North Wales’ mix of Snowdonia mountains, coast and castles are captured in the same style as iconic American landscapes of deserts, surf and sunsets!
A new much-simplified logo draws on the fortified town of Conwy itself, with its arched gateways integrated into the ‘n’ of the custom-drawn lettering. A new tagline proudly defines the range – Proudly Crafted in Wales – whether locally inspired, or further afield. The typography for the new branding uses a unique font-family ‘Lapidaria’ that features both an ancient Celtic-infused Uncial style (used for the Traditional range) and a matching sans-serif style (used for the Craft range) to give the range a unified but distinct feel across the brew styles.
The rebrand has been rolled out across an initial range of 6 Traditional ales and 4 Craft beers, in 500ml bottles and pump clips / bar fount badges for pubs and bars. Also new to the brewery is a canned range of beers and boxed 4-packs to be sold through national supermarket chains. A range of seasonal and wholesale beers are also being developed – where the flexible and cohesive illustration style and branding are proving to be ideally suited to a whole range of new beers in the pipeline...
“Really happy with the new branding – it’s spot on. I’ve been involved with a few rebrands over the years and this is definitely the easiest to come together, you just ‘got it’. Many thanks.”
Robin Langton – Director, Conwy Brewery
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