2 Short Planks Brewing; Branding and Bottle Label Design
Branding and bottle label design for a new micro brewery in Topsham, Devon. The name – 2 Short Planks Brewing – is a both a literal reference to the two planks of wood used to initially build the brewing facilities, as well as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the alleged intelligence of the brewery owners (‘as thick as…’)!
The logo design is based on illustrating the ‘two short planks’. Planks of wood form the frame around the words, and an appropriately ‘woodcut’ style of illustration gives a crafted feel. The use of Futura (designed in the 1920s) adds to the early 20th century vintage feel; intended to compliment the historical references in the names of the three brewery beers.
The first beers 2 Short Planks Brewing intends to produce will be:
South Coaster: A light, crisp IPA, named after the wreck of a Navy coaster in the nearby River Exe. The South Coaster ran aground in 1943 while attempting to get into Exmouth harbour.
Topsham Herald: An amber ale named after the old Topsham newspaper.
The Zephyr: A strong and dark porter. The Zephyr steam packet sailed every Saturday from Topsham to London, a journey that took three days, with stops in Cowes and Portsmouth.
The label designs use a cross-hatch style of pattern to build the background illustrations. Using photos and paintings of the actual ships as references, the distinctive shapes of the hull, steam stack and, in the case of the Zephyr, the paddle wheel and masts, were drawn and filled with the cross-hatch pattern.
The label for the Topsham Herald has as its background image the structure of a newspaper front page, with blocks and columns of the cross-hatch pattern representing the images and text.