Industry
- Food
- Beverage
- Tourism/Destination
Service
- Brand Development
- Website Design
- Social Media
- Packaging
Branding a Belgian-Inspired Brewery in Finger Lakes Wine Country
In 2020, New York State had the second-highest number of breweries in the country. Then, COVID-19 hit. Backed by a community of forward-thinking craft beer enthusiasts and the New York State Brewers Association (NYSBA), Brewery Ardennes was able to keep its plan to open a Belgian-inspired craft brewery and taproom in Geneva NY, in May 2021.
Working as a collaborative partner with the Brewery Ardennes team, we first did a deep dive into their target audience, building out audience personas and messaging strategies. With a logo already in place, our team developed brand guidelines, brand voice, and brand identity through discovery sessions, language exploration, and visual planning sessions. These guiding principles allowed us to quickly execute a slew of collateral for their launch over the course of a couple of months.
To take advantage of the Belgian-inspired nature of the brewery, our design team created illustrated characters inspired by the owners’ dogs, Barley and Hops, who are often seen trotting around the brewery. The dogs are featured prominently on most of Ardennes’ beer labels, replicating the whimsy and warmth of the brewery itself. Set on a storybook backdrop of illustrated forests and creamy parchment paper, the overall brand feel is a nod to the similarities between Belgium’s Ardennes Forest and the Finger Lakes region. Our design team developed can labels, bottle labels, merchandise, coasters, and a board game (yes, a board game!). We worked with photographer Julie Roesser to capture the cozy, refined space, created by owners Stacey and Derek Edinger in a 100-year-old sheep barn.
As the brewery launched in May 2021, we handled PR for the opening and helped owner Stacey Edinger source user-generated content to keep Ardenne’s social media humming.
Recognition
Our work on the Brewery Ardennes packaging won a Gold Pinnacle award in the 2022 Rochester Pinnacle Awards.
The 29 Design Studio team includes strategists and creative designers that helped us to focus and prioritize the initial launch of our brand, including web, social and visual identity. Their partnership helped to connect us with other like-minded individuals, businesses and resources. The team is highly responsive and works hard to fulfill and exceed requests. Stacey Edinger, Head of Hospitality & Cofounder,
