Funky Buddha Brewery Acquired By Constellation Brands

This summer it was announced that Constellation Brands, recent purchasers of Ballast Point, would also add Funky Buddha Brewery, of Oakland Park, Florida to its stable of high-end breweries.

I worked closely with Jon and the rest of The Brandit team to redevelop their packaging system and re-envision their brand identity a few years ago, while I was with the agency. Their two flagship products, Hop Gun IPA and Floridian Hefeweizen, I developed as part of the initial launch, working with Rubens Scarelli to create the amazing illustrations.

Funky Buddha was the #1 New BA Craft Beer Vendor of 2015, after introducing the new brand and packaging.

Georgetown Presbyterian Church - Reformation Ale Bottle

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At the end of this month is the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's 95 theses. To celebrate the milestone, Georgetown Presbyterian Church will host a hymnsong, and serve a special era-inspired German beer to honor the spirit of the reformers generally, but specifically honor Katie Luther - the wife of Martin. 

In case you cannot read the text above - 

In late October of 1517, a German monk named Martin Luther published a few ideas on theology - 95 to be precise. Though he guessed they might make for lively discussion, little did he know his these would spark a revolution - or rather a reformation.

A few years later Luther married another rebel, a nun-on-the-run named Katharina von Bora. "Katie" Luther wielded a dual reputation: for influence over her famed husband, and for brewing excellent ale. Many of the liveliest discussions of the Reformation took place in the Luther household, over several pints of Katie Luther's esteemed beer.

The discussion begun in 1615 continues today, five hundred years later. So raise a glass to Katie Luther and the Reformation." 

The quote at the bottom "Here I stand - I can drink no other." is a reference to Martin's mythical quote at the Diet of Worms in 1521.

This post represents a thank you to Georgetown Presbyterian Church, Ceramic Decorating Co. for supplying the glass and decoration at-cost, the illustrator Steven Noble who supplied the mallet and nails illustration.

Images by photographer Adrian Vaagnes.

Cutting Room Floor: Iron Triangle Brewing Co.

On occasion it's fun to go back and examine some work that didn't quite make the cut. Roughly a year ago, while an art director at The Brandit, I began working on an identity system for Iron Triangle Brewing Co. in Los Angeles. Thematically, they were very interested in the story of Milliam Mulholland, Fredrick Eaton, and Joseph Lippincot: the three men who built the LA aqueduct at the turn of the 20th century. They wanted to make sure that the imagery of the aqueduct was somewhat visible, or at least homaged in the creation of the artwork. Creating a suite of icons and logos was important, as well.

I ran across it an early version of the identity system that didn't make it past the second round, and thought it was really cool. The name "Iron Triangle" combined with the imagery of an aqueduct made for a conceptual challenge, and the linkage of two strong geometric shapes is an elegant way to square, or triangle, that circle. Negative space at the linking points creates a swirling effect, reminiscent of water propelled through a tube.

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“William Mulholland was a self-educated man, but in 1914 the University of California at Berkeley bestowed on him an honorary doctorate degree. The inscription on the diploma read ‘Percussit saxa et duxit flumina ad terram sitientum’ (He broke the rocks and brought the river to the thirsty land).”

— IrishAmerica.com

During the research phase, we found this interesting bit about William Mulholland. The inscription is wrapped around the tertiary logo, which was intended as an interesting button, or perhaps even embossed on the bottom of the bottle if we pursued custom glassware. One version utilized the original latin, for even more classic character. The secondary logo feels the most like swirling water, and was to be used as the crown.

The identity system works especially well on black.

Santa Maria Brewing Company | Brand Director

The radio silence around here the last few months has good cause. Primarily, Olivia had our second child. Very secondarily, most of my hours were poured into a single project. This is rare for me, but the results so far are entirely worth it.

Last year I flew out to meet with Byron Moles, the owner and president of Santa Maria Brewing Co, in Santa Maria, California. We shared a vision for what the brewery could become, and I decided to contribute my experience in the beer industry to growing this brand. Here is a taste of what we've been working on.

Here we are in Costco.

Working with Byron and the team is very rewarding, and I'm excited to see this brand continue to grow. Hopefully cans are on the horizon for 2017, but next up: the Santa Maria website.