As craft beer growth slows, original craft brewer Redhook aims to re-energize its brand with a new brewery and pub, the Redhook Brewlab. Founded in 1981 before ‘craft’ was a thing out of a former Ballard transmission shop, the brewery hit hard times. Now, returning to its Seattle roots and experimental heritage, Redhook and Head Brewer Nick Crandall set out to create a beer-focused working space and test ground to experiment and create small-batch beers primarily for the pub, as well as develop recipes that will eventually be introduced on wider scale in Washington State and beyond.
Redhook’s creative agency Duncan Channon conceived the Brewlab brand concept and created the identity, name, signage, menus and merchandise to bring the experimental brewing space to life and engage local residents. States Michael Lemme, chief creative officer, Duncan Channon: “To revitalize a brand that lost some of its craft credibility in the 35-plus years since it became one of the pioneering brewers in the small-batch movement, we knew we had to bring Redhook’s values to vivid life rather than merely talk about them in a traditional advertising campaign. In developing the Brewlab concept and identity, our job was to make sure everything from the name to the smallest detail in the customer experience communicated how Redhook Brewlab is purpose-built to experiment, innovate and test the results on Seattle humans of legal drinking age.”
Creative Credits at Duncan Channon go to Michael Lemme, creative director; Matthew Schneider, lead designer; Amanda Burger, copywriter; J. Moe and Shannon Burns, designers.
