Design Portfolio

PortaBeer

Story: PortaBeer was born out of an idea that four guys came up with while camping. While the product is still in development, and therefore can't be discussed, the team needed an identity to help build credibility with suppliers and potential investors.

Challenge: The team gave little direction outside of their mission -- to make beer more portable.

Goal: Create an identity that would be fun, versitile (everything from four-color print to web to imprint in plastic).

Solution: First, the name PortaBeer was identified as the company brand. Most importantly, the domain name (www.portabeer.com) was available, making an online sales strategy much easier to implement.

Second, the colors needed to be selected. These colors were selected based upon a few factors: a) beer is usually a gold color, which helps to identify the product focus; b) black is a very good contrast color to gold, helping to visually define the design; and c) the four partners are from Pittsburgh and take pride in their three black-and-gold teams. Gray was added to parts of the elements to give definition.

Third, the logo needed to be developed. There were several constraints -- the logo needed to be unique, easily convey the message, readable at small sizes, easy to use in a variety of contexts, and modular (i.e. there can be one part of the logo that conveys the message without the entire brand name displayed). The result is a logo that incorporates many elements that are easily recoginzed to beer drinkers. First, the PortaBeer 'P' is a pitcher in pouring position, which anchors the entire brand. It can be used with the entire name or can stand alone as a brand mark. Second, the rest of the name accents "Beer", which includes a gradient effect that looks like a glass of beer, complete with head at the top. Finally, the contrast of black and lighter colors can easily be used in embossing applications without messing with brand integrity.

In the end, the team was very excited and is using the mark currently to continue to develop one of the few innovations in the beer dispensing market in years.