brewed
summer 2020/present
app design - product design
Brewed is a personal project that was designed towards creating an extension to Goose Island.
Cincinnati, OH is a popular hotspot for beer lovers and microbreweries! Goose Island, a popular beer brand based in Chicago, IL. They’re known for their signature goose head logo, as well as fun and colorful bottle branding. How might I extend Goose Island’s existing brand into a growing beer-lovers city?
Starting with a brand analysis of Goose Island:
Typefaces: Brandon Grotesque Bold & Founders Grotesk X-Cond Regular
Bright colors, simple naming convention, signature goose design
The brand itself conveys a very fun and cohesive language. It’s known for creating a large variety of specialty beers and during the boom of craft breweries across the country, Goose Island has remained a popular front runner. After a trip to Europe, founder John Hall stated “America deserves some damn fine beer like this, too.”
So … how might they expand their name even further?
user research
In order to get a better idea of what beer enthusiasts want I went out and interviewed a couple of people around Cincinnati, OH. This area is known for its large amount of microbreweries such as Rhinegeist, MadTree, Braxton Brewing Company, and more! I went in with an open mind and was looking to gain as much insight into this world as I could. I wanted to inquire about what they liked most about beer culture, what they like to share, and more importantly if they have people to share with.
Quotes from Users:
“I love sharing new beers with people, but sometimes my friends get annoyed. I’d like to find a place that would let me talk to other beer enthusiasts like myself!”
“I wish there was a specific place to go and easily find opinions of new beers I’m looking to try”
app extension
Following my initial research, I developed an app for the company to utilize for user outreach. I was able to hone in on my interfacing skills and create something user-friendly as well as aesthetically pleasing. A good way to reach potential customers outside of the Chicago area is to have a reliable platform that can center around Goose Island while utilizing social media resources. I incorporated a lot of Goose Island’s current branding to maintain consistency throughout.
Below is the app layout, it includes a page for customers to read about the company, find and look through different products offered by Goose Island, and finally have a way to connect with the company and other consumers.
Insights:
Beer enthusiasts want to talk about their beer.
It’s important for them to be able to share opinions, preferences, and photos of their experiences.
Goose Island doesn’t have a specific resource for this type of activity yet.
The feed feature was created as a way to act like an Instagram or Twitter fed for its users. By allowing users to share updates to one another, it creates a sense of community around the beer brand itself.
Under the profile, the user is able to share their thoughts as well as photos about their beer experiences.
Following my initial assessment of Goose Island, I worked towards fully analyzing the brand
Beer culture is growing at a rapid rate! It is more than just sharing a moment, these days there is so much consideration in the bottle and can design.
I created two designs that were featured on a standard bottle and a can. Below are a series of mock-ups to highlight the new design.
As this project progresses and grows, I want to go forward and model, prototype, and machine a beer tap handle. There is so much creativity that goes into these handles and it allows Goose Island the opportunity to make a statement in out-of-state bars and pubs.
Going forward I will be modeling in CAD, prototyping iterations of the handles, and then ultimately milling or 3D printing a final, polished model.