Yakima Chief Hops is one of the premier hop suppliers in the world. Headquartered in Yakima, WA, they’ve been breeding, growing, and supplying hops to brewers across the globe for over 30 years.
They came to us on the cusp of something super exciting: a new hop innovation program focused on brewing community engagement. They didn’t know what to call it or have a fully fledged plan, but the idea was there — and that was enough for us to dig in.
We spent the next six months together, building out the strategy, positioning, naming, identity, and design for the entire program. Meet FWD.
Creative Direction
Brand Strategy
Logo & Identity Design
Brand & Product Naming
Packaging Design
Voice & Tone
Copywriting
Website Design
Brand Standards
FWD from Yakima Chief Hops and Yakima Chief Ranches is a hop innovation program focused on brewing community engagement. Participating brewers are granted access to the newest, not-yet-commercialized HBC varieties and products in Yakima Chief Hops’ innovation pipeline. Participants are also granted access to the educational and marketing resources necessary to both brew and sell what’s next in beer.
Through brewing trials, questionnaires, conversation, and sensory analysis, brewers will have the opportunity to guide these products through their final stage of development, assuring YCH is working on the most useful and exciting products in the industry.
We talk a lot about radical collaboration at Stout and this project was a perfect example of two teams working alongside each other to build something great.
Given the nature of the program, the branding needed to look clean and modern, futuristic even. We utilized a mix of bold and handwritten type, a suite of symbolic icon elements, and heavy use of metallic to drive the energy of the program home with the design.
One of the key components of the program beyond the name and visual identity was a custom Welcome Box for each brewery in the program. Our team curated, sourced, and designed, a one-of-a-kind box brimming with quality goods for breweries around the world – complete with a risograph printed program pamphlet, custom 5-panel rope hat, branded scrunchies, portable speaker, and even a local candy collaboration with Yakima Valley Treats.
