Running a design blog sharpens your eye for category conventions. Stick with it long enough, though, and you’ll start to see those conventions unravel. What once felt fixed begins to flex. This creates a challenge for writing about design: you’re constantly assessing the landscape, but that landscape is always shifting. Take minimalism, for example. Once the dominant aesthetic of the...
Long gone are the days when ‘energy drink’ connoted unwashed teenage gamers, amped up Twitch streamers, hungover/still going city boys on the Tube, or 2-4-1 deals on vodka Red Bull in sticky-floored suburban student nightclubs. Like many things – such as reading books, going for a walk, or having a bath – the energy drink sphere has now collided with...
Buena Fé is the first 100% organic tequila-based cocktail-in-a-can, and is made in Jalisco, Mexico, the ‘birthplace of tequila’, where the spirit was first distilled. The drink is made with 100% Blue Weber Blanco tequila, which means that all the alcohol in Buena Fé comes from the agave plant. Unlike your short Margarita, or shortish Paloma, these ready-to-drink cocktails are...
Craft beer has become a hugely competitive market to enter. It seems a rather obvious thing to write, but it’s quite something to have been part of the generation that saw its rise. It’s also provided a lot of great imagery for design blogs, and moved freely between both brand building and just plain visual delight. To see large fridges within...
In case you’ve missed it, low and no-alcohol drinks are a thing. With over 20% of adults in the UK claiming to be teetotal, abstinence is cool: Brewdog is now Punk AF (that’s ‘alcohol free’), Thomson & Scott’s Noughty is (fairly) nice, and Seedlip is sexy. This sobriety revolution is driven, in part, by the mindfully sceptical Gen Z, turned...
Marx Design worked with drinks company Lion to develop a brand identity for Berg, an alcoholic / hard seltzer free from artificial colours and preservatives aimed at “discerning drinkers who’ve been yearning for a more refined alternative.” Berg is available in three flavours, Berg Watermelon, Berg Lemon & Yuzu and berg Blackberry. While delivering a clarity and crispness of flavour, Berg is...
Yes You Can is a non-alcoholic ready-to-drink range developed by former Olympic athlete Tyler Martin. It exists in the growing direct-to-consumer space alongside more traditional channels of distribution that includes major liquor retailers across Australia. Yes You Can launched with three products aimed at a young ‘social “seltzer” crowd’ looking for healthy and sophisticated alternatives to other ready-to-drink products. Helping...
According to Sweden’s travel and tourism website, craft beer enthusiasts will discover a ‘smorgasbord’ of artisanal, eco-friendly and organic things to drink there, with more microbreweries per capita than any other country (apart from the UK). Omaka joined the scene in September 2020, at the height of the pandemic, and with a slogan to match its fearless attitude: ‘taste before...
Agder Bryggeri is a well-regarded and historical name amongst breweries throughout Norway. It was first established in 1900 but was closed down in 1904 due to operational problems. Recently, the brewery has been resurrected as part of Norsk Bryggerier’s commitment to local beer brands, and is now sold throughout the Agder counties of southern Norway. As part of this resurrection...
Carlsberg is a Danish beer brand founded in 1847 by J.C. Jacobsen. It is part of the Carlsberg Group portfolio which also includes Tuborg, Kronenbourg and Somersby cider, as well as Carlsberg Export and Carlsberg Black Gold. Carlsberg has a significant heritage. And, like many other beer brands, has largely conveyed this using the visual language and associated legacy of the beer...
Forgotten Boardwalk is a New Jersey microbrewery producing uniquely flavoured, year-round and seasonal craft beer. It was set up by Jamie Queli, one of the youngest female brewery owners in the US, and draws its name from the folklore of the Jersey Shore Boardwalk. This is the foundation of an extensive new brand identity, designed by Tennessee based Perky Bros, which brings to life the sideshow...
Fort Point is a San Francisco-based small batch craft beer company that references traditional styles yet is firmly rooted in the present, and has a philosophy that values craftsmanship and innovation, creativity and technique. In 2015, working with local graphic design studio Manual, Fort Point launched a new graphic identity and packaging system to unite its expanding range. Fort Point’s forward-thinking, fast-growing...