ORCA crafts an immersive identity for family-owned Cornish brewery

Right now, the demand for decent craft beer seems to keep growing and growing. And so St Austells, a family-owned Cornish brewery deeply rooted in traditional brewing and community values, was looking to expand by investing in like-minded breweries such as Harbour Brewing Co.

This presented a new opportunity to collaborate and launch a new brand for a series of tap rooms that could appeal to a broad, diverse audience.

To help create this new brand, they turned to ORCA, a Bristol-based brand agency with whom they'd already worked on a previous project.

ORCA was founded by two friends, James and Joel, in 2011. However since 2020 James Ewin has solely taken the helm of ORCA. His focus has been on creating an agency that specialises in helping challenger brands make an impact whilst ensuring we look after our environment and people along the way. In 2023 they achieved B Corp certification.

The brief

The brief was to create a robust and scalable brand identity for a new craft beer house with the potential for the brand to be applied to various sites in the southwest.

The beer house would need to be an experiential destination that draws in both locals and beyond. It would be a Harbour Brewing Co-led concept, and the beer house would house a wide range of Harbour Brewing Co and other independent brewery beers and be a place for people to experience their love for the craft.

"We were somewhat tied to the existing Harbour brand identity," says Max Harding, senior designer at ORCA. "And this new offer had to include recognisable cues from the master brand while also being enough of an evolution to distinctively stand out in a crowded market.

"As we are a team that loves all things outdoors, from wild swimming to weekend walks as well as the odd craft beer along the way, we felt passionate about our ability to create something special."

Brand strategy

The design process began by crafting a brand strategy that would underpin everything ORCA did, ensuring they delivered a project that connected with their audience.

"This process involved a trip down to Charlestown, where the venue is located, and immersing ourselves in the coastal culture that surrounds the Charlestown area," recalls Max. "We toured the brewery, which is only 15 minutes up the road, went for a dip in the ocean, as well as spent some time visiting other taprooms on a safari-like trip."

The resulting identity was anchored around a theme of 'Deeply connected'. Deeply refers to the seas and rivers where the tap rooms are based, as well as the immersive experience they will provide. Connected refers to the local produce, the people behind the beer and the togetherness and sense of community that the beer house will promote.

Colours and typography

The illustrations, created in-house by Yoana Puleva, were inspired by vintage coastal holiday imagery, which resulted in a set of playful characters that are quirky and feel nostalgic to anyone visiting.

They combine coastal activities with the craft lifestyle while also nodding to the skate and surf culture that underpins the whole Harbour Brewing brand.

When it comes to typography ORCA tapped into the vintage coastal aesthetic in a similar way. They created a number of typographic lock ups that were used across merchandise allowing customers to take home a piece of the brand, whether that be on a sticker or a pint glass.

They also spent a lot of time refining the colour palette, which became a natural way to connect the brand identity back to the environment. "We took inspiration from the colours you often see spending time by the coast," says Max. "It was also important that the interior of the space be aligned with the brand colour palette, making for a seamless brand experience, so you'll see from the photography a lot of the colours were used throughout the space."