Kirkstall Brewery’s Contemporary Floral Beer Cans

Derrick Lin

Global

Agency: WPA Pinfold
Strategic Director: Myles Pinfold
Designer: Scott Corbishley
Location: United Kingdom
Project Type: Produced
Client: Kirkstall Brewery
Product Launch Location: Global
Packaging Contents: Beer
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Aluminium Can
Printing Process: Flexography

In an overcrowded market where brand identities are starting to merge, we at WPA Pinfold, designed a range of craft beer cans which created a unique positioning for Kirkstall Brewery, giving it immediate impact and credibility in the off-trade market.

The design is inspired by the style of illuminated manuscripts produced by the Cistercian monks who inhabited Kirkstall Abbey, near the brewery’s location. The historical references are deliberately juxtaposed with the crisp and clean overall design, which uses simple typography and strong colours to achieve a unique brand identity.

The overall design is simple and done well, which underpins the brewery’s philosophy. A focus on the quirky beer names also builds on Kirkstall’s distinctive brand identity.

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The fresh, vibrant colours give clear differentiation whilst the metallic finishes and texture give a premium feel with shelf stand-out. The brand logo is embellished with intertwined hops and is used consistently across the range to build brand integrity.

The result? An outstanding, premium brand that consumers love and can easily identify on shelf, with a surge in sales to prove it.

A spokesperson from Kirkstall Brewery said that, “As a business with limited funds and resources, aiming to establish itself in a highly competitive market, it was critical for the Kirkstall Brewery to have immediate impact and credibility. WPA Pinfold has created a brand identity that positions us as a leading light in the craft brewery market and orders are being won based on the design”.

What’s Unique?
When designing cans for Kirkstall’s new range of beer, we focused on differentiation through their brand story. The Abbey, the monks and the brewer’s location were sold along with the beer enhancing the rich English heritage behind the brand. Kirkstall felt that their brand story was conveyed succinctly through the intertwined hops in the logo that they adopted it as the face of their brand.

We used bold metallic colours to show the diversity in their products. Categorising through colour helped enhance the overall effectiveness giving the brand an edge among its competitors. The new design, not only pumped up their shelf appeal but also helped customers to spot the beer they wanted from few feet away.