BRAND DESIGN
419 Ale Tail
If there’s one thing I love more than living in the Midwest, it’s helping local businesses and initiatives thrive in the Midwest. Longtime client and local tourism magnate Destination Toledo reached out for help with crafting a brand to be the face of their new bar and brewery initiative, 419 Ale Trail (a nod to the city’s beloved ZIP code).
Client: Destination Toledo
Before diving in to design, I wanted to ensure that Destination Toledo had the proper brand tone, voice, and strategic goals in-hand to allow the eventual brand kit to flourish. In developing perspective for the tourism initiative, 419 Ale Trail could rely on a foundation of clear purpose for subsequent messaging and campaign work.
Follow the Trail
Northwest Ohio finds itself as the owner of one of the main arteries of the midwest: the Maumee River. Our metroparks and trails flank it; our industries and economy rely on it; and our people revere it, affectionately dubbing her“The Mighty Maumee”. The river also represents a continual flow of ideas constantly pouring out of the area’s entrepreneurs. It’s no secret that across all of Northwest Ohio, a world of discovery awaits those with enough gumption and curiosity. It’s that same innate natural desire to leave no stone unturned that mimics the 419‘s passion for quality food and drink. Brew masters – unafraid to roll up their sleeves, take a chance on new ideas, and produce quality brews for all to enjoy – strive daily to challenge norms and provide Northwest Ohio with some of the best craft beer around. The 419 Ale Trail celebrates those brewers (and their brews) by posing a question to the people of Northwest Ohio: How far will you go to reach the intersection of great drinks and even better people?
This is more than just a list of local breweries. The 419 Ale Trail is, at its core,a love letter to the grit, determination and care that Northwest Ohio puts into every craft brew made.
Adventure is in your own backyard. Are you up for the challenge?
Born from the brand tone of voice and positioning, the Ale Trail wordmark stands weathered and strong, with opportunities to add a variety of beverage-adjacent icons on a la carte. There’s just enough quirk infused into small moments of the logo –from the bent stem of the A to faux-monospacing alluding to hand-set type–to suggest the same craft and handiwork that each brewery brings to their craft beverages.
Dense, rich letterpress texture appears both within the logo and as a brand accessory when needed; these heavy fields of patchy color are another quick reference to the brand positioning “on the trail”. A hand-drawn topographic map makes for a clean backdrop and secondary element while giving the brand another trail-related asset to use when applicable.
With the brand conversation so deeply ingrained in a custom, craft mentality, it made sense to include a set of secondary and tertiary logo badges to use for variety and further enhancement of brand narratives across social platforms. A larger, arched badge illustration centers the ever-important hops icon amidst a landscape sunrise; this element, and the others, pepper themselves across print and digital ephemera alike.
