Deep Ellum IPA Brand Refresh
Creative Direction, Branding, Packaging, Photography, Outdoor
Breathing new life to an iconic Texas IPA brandwithout losing its recognition on the shelf.
Illustration by Arthur James
2020-2021
The Deep Ellum IPA has been Deep Ellum Brewing's oldest and flagship brand ever since they pioneered the Dallas, TX craft beer scene in 2011.
As the brewery quickly grew and the brand matured, IPA's look had become outdated and fell behind in the portfolio and market trends. Our task was to refresh the can and introduce secondary packaging in the form of a 6-pack carton without losing recognition on the shelf.
We kept the can's iconic bright colors, bold approach to typography — inspired by traditional sign painters — and added a custom illustration of a one-eyed hop with wings to complete the look. The new brand assets were also much more flexible to work with for all marketing materials and POS displays.
The initial response and feedback to the packaging refresh was not all positive. Many Deep Ellum IPA fans voiced their criticisms of the new design when it was first announced on the brewery's social media channels. However, consumers are notoriously averse to change and in the end the numbers spoke for themselves.
6%
Increase in 6-pack sales after rollout
10%
Increase in 12-pack sales
