This content was originally published by The Hop Review, a digital magazine that joined the Hop Culture family in March 2020.
This piece was written by Jack Muldowney.
MILTON, DE
DOGFISH HEAD BREWERY ANNOUNCES NEW PACKAGING DESIGN
Founded in 1995, Dogfish Head was the first American craft brewery to focus on culinary-inspired beer recipes. So, it’s only fitting that their new packaging designs showcase that mentality–the first packaging refresh in the 20 years that the brewery has been in business, if you can believe it. The design effort was a collaboration between Dogfish’s in-house creative team and Interact Boulder, a Colorado-based strategic packaging design firm. The new packaging set out with featuring seven Dogfish brands, with additional brands to come later in the year.
The new designs set out to ‘honor a foundational spirit of off-centered innovation and imagination by highlighting Dogfish’s legacy of exploring goodness through ingredients and process.’ The beers’ ingredients are the heros of the design, showcased in playful illustrations that create realistic and authentic flavor expectations in trademark Dogfish ‘off-centered’ fashion. The new design also organizes key information, such as beer style and ABV, in a way that makes it easier for consumers to shop.
“We wanted to create some uniformity across our portfolio without falling into the trap of being predictable and sterile,” Calagione says. The iconic Dogfish Head ‘shark and shield’ logo and proprietary ‘Doggie’ font are the two recognizable design elements that will carry through from the old packaging into the new style.
Not a groundbreaking update by any means, but certainly a necessary one for a stalwart American craft brand that has paved the path for many. Here’s hoping many other decades-old brands in the industry take notice, and once again, follow suit.
“We wanted to create some uniformity across our portfolio without falling into the trap of being predictable and sterile.”
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Packaging design by Interact Boulder & Dogfish Head.
Images & photography provided by Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales.
