A little monkey business. A distinctive beer brand.
Beer Monkey Brew Co / 01
The ambition
Beer Monkey Brew Co needed an identity that belonged in the craft beer world while having a character of its own. The brief called for a colourful, engaging brand that could appeal to established beer enthusiasts and curious newcomers.
The idea of “monkey business” gave us a starting point: a sense of mischief, energy and discovery that could become a recognisable visual story across the range.
Beer Monkey Brew Co / 02
Finding a place in the market
We looked at the craft beer landscape, including the illustration, colour and brand personalities competing for attention. The opportunity was to combine the familiarity of the category with a more distinctive central character.
Positioning informed the design. The identity needed to feel accessible, with friendly typography and a clear layout balancing the more expressive artwork. That balance would allow personality and product information to work together.
Beer Monkey Brew Co / 03
A family of characters
Monkey-themed illustrations became the centre of the packaging. Different beers could feature their own characters while remaining recognisably part of the same brand.
Bold imagery and a bright palette carried the personality across labels and packaging. A consistent approach to typography and composition kept the range connected as the illustrations changed from product to product.
Beer Monkey Brew Co / 04
Beyond the bottle
The visual language extended into point-of-sale materials, displays and branded items such as coasters and glassware. Website and social applications used the same colour, typography and illustration approach.
Thinking about these applications together gave Beer Monkey a brand it could use repeatedly. A product launch, retail display or digital post could introduce something new while reinforcing familiar visual cues.
Beer Monkey Brew Co / 05
Room for the next idea
The system also provided a basis for later collaborations, including the Three Monkeys World Cup beer. For that release we developed concepts and produced labels and pump clips within the wider brand world.
This is the strategic value of a distinctive identity: it gives a business an idea it can keep building on. The contribution of the design is visible in the connected range and its adaptability across products and communications.
WHAT THE WORK DELIVERED
A recognisable illustration-led brand spanning packaging, retail and digital applications, with a flexible character system for future releases.
An illustration-led identity and packaging system for Beer Monkey Brew Co, built to carry a playful personality from the shelf into the wider brand.
SERVICES BEHIND THE WORK
NEXT COLLABORATION
Nicky Clarke ↗
