The team over at SSMCreative has really done a knockout job on the new Weyerbacher logo.
SSMCreative spent a year and a half working with Weyerbacher on developing their brand and identity and clarifying who they were and how they wanted to represent themselves. The first result of that is the new logo. Weyerbacher and SSMCreative felt that the beers were always bold, creative and inventive and married the old traditions of beer making with new and innovative techniques and styles. That part of the brand was not represented in the visual identity of the brewery. In designing the new logo SSMCreative searched for an illustrator who could take all of those elements of the beer brand and marry them with the visual.
The Jester
The Jester started on the Blithering Idiot label in the late ’90s and was beginning to be used to identify the mischievous and fun nature of the brewery and it’s beers. In deciding on a direction for the icon of the brewery, the creative team thought about a number of different options and always came back to the Jester. It’s an icon that has become synonymous with Weyerbacher and as another part of the brand, it was decided that going too far in another direction could be perceived as selling out. In addition to not wanting to be perceived as selling out, the creative team really pushed to keep some rough edges to the artwork. Weyerbacher is a friendly and grass roots driven brewery and any artwork that’s too slick just never felt right.
What’s to come.
In the next few months Weyerbacher and SSMCreative will be rolling out all new packaging starting with the 5 year round beers – Merry Monks, Blithering Idiot, Old Heathen, Verboten, Double Simcoe IPA and the as yet unnamed IPA. From there, they’ll be moving on to all of the other packaging. In all it’s been a long process, and this is just the start, but we’re all really excited about the direction. Congrats to Weyerbacher and SSMCreative on a job well done!