Monsuta Okinawa Dry

Monsuta Naming, branding & packaging for a new Japanese lager from the island of Okinawa.

The Monsuta brand was born out of Japanese Anime culture with giant characters representing the giant size taste.

Monsuta is a Japanese brand exporting to other countries designed to appeal to a new type of beer consumer looking for a more unique beer brand. To capture the authenticity with a real unique style we looked into the world of Anime and cultural icons that are revered in Japan and across the world.

The identity needed to live up to the name, we extensively researched that “larger than life” Japanese typography and illustration styles. Bold condensed italic type (Tungstan) was used to capture the dynamic Japanese style, with strong primary reds, blues. To soften the bold colour palette we used beige background colour to balance the more traditional style of Anime.

We wanted to tell a story centred around the origins of the culture, and brewery. The story of Monsuta starts on an island off Okinawa when every 100 years the legend of the Monsuta stirs. The giant sumo makes his way to the home for the sort after Okinawa Dry premium draft to find the only beer with a giant size taste. He finds himself battling a giant squid crashing through the city of Okinawa, but most importantly saving the Happy Park Brewery.

A communication campaign was created by the team at Creative Platform and Endeavour Drinks to share the story to audiences on social platforms and at the Japanese Film Festival touring around Australia.