Maverick brewer BrewDog has unveiled its spirits brand LoneWolf, with design by B&B studio (bandb-studio.co.uk).
Pared back and minimalist, the design flies in the face of convention and reflects the brand’s aim to operate as an outsider within the sprits category.
A simple stripped-back label features across the gin and vodka bottles in defiance of category codes with the wolf’s head identity its sole adornment.
B&B studio worked to communicate LoneWolf’s rebellious approach to the spirits category in the design, as the brand seeks to challenge perceptions of what gin and vodka can be.
The production process at LoneWolf takes place on one site, from grain to bottle, as opposed to spirit and botanicals being bought in, then mixed together. Every part of the brand is created from scratch -including the bespoke bottle and a specially formulated silicone band.
LoneWolf seeks to hero the spirit before the brand, in a stance that goes against the grain in the craft industry. This anti-marketing approach, a clear strategy formed for the design, is reflective of both product purity and the brand’s deliberately defiant stance.
“LoneWolf goes against the pack and ignores the codes of the category, allowing us to tell their brand story in an eye catching and compelling way," says Shaun Bowen, creative partner at B&B studio.
The unassuming label, which is held onto the bottle with a silicone band, features a modest typewriter font, imperfect and intimate, inspired by the notes made by a distiller in the creation of spirits. It also features the brand’s LoneWolf identity, a wolf distilled down to its purest geometric elements.
The back of the bottle sports embossed LoneWolf type. And 12 stories about LoneWolf, on themes such as the taste and process, written by the brand, appear on the inside of the label.
“The packaging has a raw simplicity to reflect the purity of what LoneWolf is doing in the spirits sector. It feels legitimate and authentic, with a scientific quality to it," adds Bowen.
“Each category has its own design codes but this just turns that all on its head. The vodka and gin look the same – only LoneWolf could do something as revolutionary as this.”
