What's on your mind?
Categories:
Branding
Illustration
UX/UI
Art Direction
Web Development
Project Team:
Kristiana Vellucci
Design, Art Direction, Illustration
Michael Laine
Website Development
Stephen Trim
Website Copy
In early 2021, we set out to rebrand the historic Tin Whistle Brewing Co. At the time, Tin Whistle had undergone an ownership change, and it was time for the historic 1995 brand to be reinvented. The Tin Whistle brand had always featured the local flora and fauna of the Okanagan region - which we loved but wanted to give a modern twist.
Hand-drawn illustration was used to create an illustrative style that kept the brand light and playful while still being strong enough to stand out on busy liquor store shelves. What you see today is a brand that celebrates its core beers that include both the classic beers Tin Whistle has made since the 90s and the newer styles we’ve introduced more recently.
The Tin Whistle core beers
The original beers are tied together through style, colour palette, and font to create a cohesive looks that screams “the Tin Whistle you know and love but with a modern twist!”.
The Tin Whistle local series
In 2021 and 2022, Tin Whistle’s spring and fall seasonal beer releases focused on celebrating local hot spots around the Okanagan by creating labels based on popular activities and destinations in the region. Places like Skaha Lake Park, Mount Munson, and Okanagan Beach all find their way into this series. With this series, we chose to branch into a more illustrative, story-book style that would tell the stories of the region better than the simpler, linoleum-print inspired style of the core beers.
The Tin Whistle culinary series
In 2023 and beyond, Tin Whistle introduced a new series of beers that focuses on celebrating locally sourced culinary ingredients of the Okanagan region. Ingredients like locally roasted coffee, loose leaf tea, and even “wasted” local ingredients like grape skins in the Wasted Grape beers and spent sake rice in the Cherry Blossom Japanese Lager. We wanted to align the branding of these seasonal beers with the rest of the portfolio, but we also wanted to signal their difference.We chose to maintain our illustrative style, but stray from the core Tin Whistle colour palette - instead using colours that represented the beers themselves. Consumers want simplicity and beer shelves are busy, and we wanted the label to communicate exactly what these beers were. Still fun, still Tin Whistle, but a signal to consumers that these beers are different and worth a special look.
The brand beyond the labels
Along the way, we've continued to work with Tin Whistle to build their brand. From growlers and colouring pages for the tap room to murals in their brewery around town - we've done it all together!
