LogoLounge 2

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Job no:82185(CTP) Title : RP-Logolounge 2 Client : Pro-vision

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175 Size : 228.6(w)279.4(h)mm Co : M6 C0 O/P: CTP

Dept : DTP D/O : 27.08.04 (Job no:000000 D/O : 00.00.01 Co: CM0)

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Job no:8

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Dept : D

Brooklyn was home to forty-eight breweries a century ago, each

with its own culture and loyal neighborhood of customers. The

taverns that sold the locally brewed products were important

centerpieces in the borough’s neighborhoods, and the families

who started the breweries held positions of civic and social

importance.

Unfortunately, in 1976, the last of these local businesses was put

under by large Midwestern breweries. But in 1987, a former AP

foreign correspondent, who had taken up home brewing while

living in the Middle East where beer is not available, and his

Brooklyn neighbor, then a lending bank officer, brought brewing

back to Brooklyn.

The partners contacted Milton Glaser to create an identity for their

new company, Brooklyn Brewery. Glaser liked the company for sev-

eral reasons. First, he says the products taste terrific. “It’s made

intelligently. The brewmaster is very good, and the beer is as good

as anything you can get in Europe.” Second, he felt it would be a

great accomplishment to bring back this piece of local history.

Originally, the client wanted to call the company The Brooklyn

Bridge Brewery, but at Glaser’s recommendation, dropped the

“Bridge” portion to make the product feel more inclusive. In fact,

the team wanted to create an identity that looked vaguely Euro-

pean. The beer has a very intense taste, as European varieties do.

“The labeling we created is more minimal than the national

brands,” Glaser says. “People remember it when they see it. They

don’t associate it with American beers.”

But the identity he created does have one distinctly American

trait. The swooshing B in the logo reminds many people of base-

ball—specifically, the Brooklyn Dodgers. Glaser acknowledges

this reference to classic Brooklyn. It cashes in on the value of

local nostalgia and history, casting a fond eye back to when the

Dodgers were just as much a part of the borough as the neigh-

borhood beer.

The gold, green, and black logo that Glaser created transfers eas-

ily to differently colored labels, accommodating the company’s

eight lines of beers, plus some seasonal specialties.

Creating a new mark, especially one that must thrive in a market

with many prevailing products, is a balancing act. The logo must

fit the product category or buyers won’t understand what the

packaging contains. But it can’t lapse into similitude, either.

“European- or imported-beer drinkers have expectations, but

there are also the expectations of American beer buyers, which

might be shifted,” Glaser says. “You have to consider the context

of the product and be novel. It’s definitely a balancing act.”

Brooklyn Brewery

Identity and Package Design

Milton Glaser, Inc., New York, New York

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