As one of the largest breweries in the country, Elysian Brewing faces a unique set of challenges. When it was founded in 1996, the brewery was in the heart of Seattle’s burgeoning DIY, music, and art scenes, playing host to the city’s creatives with equally creative beer.
Elysian is one of our Backed By Stout partners. Backed By Stout is a custom transfusion of our team with our client’s, where we plug in for a year on a range of work to achieve brand goals. We meet weekly to check-in on projects, review feedback, and present new ideas. Being in the room and having thorough brand knowledge allows us to work efficiently and deliver big things.
Over the past 5 years, we’ve helped Elysian to meet the needs of a today’s beer market, and the changing desires of their customers without losing the passion and edge that they embodied 30 years ago. We’ve used every tool at our disposal to do it – from limited release beers, to massive core package rebrands, from local grocery signage to billboards across the country, from social media content to national campaigns.
Creative Direction
Brand Strategy
Brand & Product Naming
Packaging Design
Voice & Tone
Copywriting
OOH Design
Event Branding
Additional Photography: Elysian Brewing Company
Over the course of our time together we’ve worked on hundreds of projects, big and small. From sell sheets, to point of sale, to full blown trade campaigns, packaging design, and even a 50 lb anniversary box with 25 beers and other oddities — collectibles, jokes, art, and over-the-top experiences to showcase the rich 25-year history of the brewery.
SAMCOM (Anheuser-Busch’s Sales and Marketing Communications Meeting) is a chance for the craft breweries in the portfolio to show off their big ideas. Elysian wanted to make a big splash and showcase their brand new Juice Dust Juicy IPA. We helped the Elysian team hone in on their idea of building a giant six pack that you can walk into, and when you do, you find yourself in a Seattle dive bar.
Over the course of a few short months, our team flushed out the idea of a wild, celebratory, out-of-the box experience for Elysian fans. The result was a 25-pack anniversary box unlike any other. Not just beers, but things—collectibles, jokes, art, and over-the-top experiences to showcase the rich 25-year history of the brewery.
The 25th Anniversary logo is inspired by Elysian’s roots in the art and music scenes of 90’s Seattle. Our lead designer put strips of duct tape on a piece of paper, scanned it, re-scanned it, and then manipulated the results to create a design language that reflects that DIY ethos. From there, a brand mark with just the numerals XXV became the visual calling card for the whole project.
The project seemed simple on the surface—build a landing page that showcased Elysian’s newest beer, Dank Dust. Elysian had a name, “The Bodanka” and wanted to highlight the beer’s trippy illustrations and late-night vibe. We took this prompt and created an online world for Dank Dust in a bodega filled with easter eggs and the sights and smells of the 90’s.
