Craft Brewery Brands: self-awareness through performance

Paper in proceeding, 2014

New principles emerge, with brands, innovation and design being driven by passion and meaning. Companies strive to resonate with consumers, tapping into culture, myths and ideologies, but also move to becoming “citizen artists” who inspire people. Design may play a central role in this, materialising values and interpreting meaning. A product category that is seemingly localised, socially engaged, and value-oriented is craft breweries. These are often small-scale and use traditional approaches to brewing, emphasising craftsmanship and quality, based on an often rebellious but playful nature, challenging the status quo, while having a passion to learn. We aim to understand how to develop brands based on own passion and principles, while being open to influences in society. What is the role of design when establishing a craft beer brand? We conducted a comparative case study using interviews, site visits and extensive desktop research. The results are compared through a framework seeing identity as a self-image that is embodied, performed, interacted and re-negotiated in an ongoing process. Both cases actively use design and engage with their audiences, but do so with different agendas: preserving and perfecting traditions, or playfully creating new brews and scenes.