BRAND REFRESH & EVENT SIGNAGE

Let it Rain Beer!

APRIL BREWS DAY 2024

April Brews Day is Bellingham’s biggest beer festival and a fundraiser for Max Higbee Center, a grassroots nonprofit providing community-based recreation programs for youth and adults with developmental disabilities in Whatcom county.

April Brews Day brings thousands of people together— and with dozens of Pacific Northwest craft breweries and cideries, live music, and local food, there's something there for everyone.

As the lead designer for April Brews Day 2024, I led a brand refresh, created all of the print and digital collateral, including graphics for the Untappd page, the official map, and posters that were distributed across the Washington and Oregon.

The Project

Since the first April Brews Day in 2001, the event had changed their brand colors each year to match new drink tickets and collectible tasting cups.

In 2024, April Brews Day wanted to adopt a “forever brand” to deepen their brand recognition in both the Bellingham and craft beer communities and to grow with as the event continues to evolve. They had three main goals for their forever brand:

  • Feels fun, festive, and inclusive

  • Visually unites the Max Higbee Center community, the Downtown Bellingham community, and the Pacific Northwest craft beer community

  • Keeps the classic logo, and focuses on refreshing the brand through color and typography

My Role

Creative Lead

Branding Refresh Lead

Graphic Designer

Map Designer

Copywriter (on the Marketing team)

Signage Lead (on the Safety & Logistics teams)

Katie Gray Event Coordinator

Kate Neale Marketing Coordinator

Kari McArdle Social Media Specialist

Rutger Wagner Multimedia Specialist

Thea Hart Safety Lead

Credits

THE BRAND REFRESH

For April Brews Day's forever brand, I chose a cheerful and versatile palette of blues and golds inspired by beer festivals and the Bellingham bay.

Foam is a true, pure white, like sea foam or the head on a beer. Hazy is a creamy, wheaty, warm beige, inspired by hazy IPAs. Breaker is a pale, oceanic sky blue. Pilsner is a fresh yellow gold, inspired by German-style lagers and refreshing beach beers. Raindrop is a bright, cheerful blue, reminiscent of the Bavarian flag or a big, round cartoon raindrop. Blue Ribbon is a dark, true ultramarine blue (that goes great with gold.) Porter, a smoky, cool brown, rounds off the color palette.