In the bottle

The popularity of craft beer has led to the growth of microbreweries all around the world. With increasing competition in the marketplace, it’s difficult for these breweries to stand out and expand their customer base. Butcombe Brewery, a brewery in the south west of England, has been rebranded by Halo, a Bristol-based design agency, to modernise its brand and attract younger beer drinkers.

Replacing its traditional look, the new visual identity and packaging line aims to highlight Butcombe’s heritage and position the brand as ahead of the craft beer trend, and how it was established before craft brewing was a “lifestyle statement.”

With a hand-drawn logo and labels with humorous illustrations by designer Pedro Oyarbide, the brewery hopes to appear as a more youthful and relatable brand. Although Butcombe is trying to shake its status as a ‘dinosaur’ beer brand, it playfully pokes at this reference with an image of a T rex on the labels of its original beer.

“Butcombe was looking to broaden the appeal of the brand and target a younger audience without losing the traditional elements that made it special,” says Nick Ellis, Halo founder and creative partner.

Halo has also created brand identity and packaging for Butcombe’s new ’78 series of limited edition beers. The 10 beers, the brewery’s response to the surge of interest in craft beer, each feature a unique design that represent an event that occurred in the year Butcombe was founded in 1978.

The rebrand will roll out over the month.