How Not To F*ck Up A Milton: Robot Food Refreshes Brooklyn Brewery

If a brand enlisted your studio’s expertise for a redesign, you’d likely ask, “where do I sign?” It's a chance to show off and demonstrate what you're capable of. 

But what if that brand sports a logo by Milton Glaser?

As it turns out, the answer is don’t touch it. At all. If anything, you make it that much bigger and bolder. Because when your principal visual assets come from the same dude that designed the “I Love NY” campaign, it’s best to leave it alone. 

And that’s pretty much what design agency Robot Food did for Brooklyn Brewery with their recent global refresh. Started back in 1984, Brooklyn Brewery’s founders Steve Hindy and Tom Potter commissioned design legend Milton Glaser to develop their logo, and they even gave him a share of the company in return for the assist. The pairing makes sense—the founders wanted to bring brewing back to Brooklyn, something that had all but disappeared from the borough in the 1970s (Schlitz and Rheingold, anyone?). They wanted to tap into the brewing traditions of yesteryear, creating something timeless. And what's more timeless than a Milton?

Of course, branding is never just a logo. Your visual identity still needs to exist in the world, whether it’s on the packaging, on a billboard, or on social. And while the beer makers had above-average visual assets, they still needed to be modernized. “This was a great opportunity to treat a brand with ultimate respect, where we're not trying to change anything, we're just trying to enhance what has grown over time,” said Robot Food creative director Ben Brears in the announcement of the project. “It's not about making it more mainstream or palatable. It’s about building on the Brooklyn group’s powerful brand and creating even stronger visual recognition."

 “You’ve got to treat the ‘B’ icon with respect. It’s a globally recognized symbol,” Ben added.

What the brewery lacked was consistency across its range of drinks, a problem typical of the craft beer world, where limited-run or seasonal brews can make most beer fanatics do a double-take in any bottle shop or liquor store. While their flagship beer, Brooklyn Lager, makes up about 50% of their sales, they still have plenty of other offerings, and they needed to exist underneath the same umbrella.

“The Brooklyn range of beers has grown over the years with more and more beers getting added to a design system and pack architecture developed for a much smaller portfolio,” said Ben to Dieline. “The original system made it more difficult and time-consuming to launch new ranges each time. There was also a disparity in how the same range would show up across can, bottle, and multipack, meaning consumers weren't always seeing brand assets deployed consistently.”

The agency decided to embolden the “B,” making it the star of the bottles and cans pumped out daily by the beloved beer maker. And while they left Milton’s hand-drawn “B” untouched, they did adjust the type outside of the logo a smidge, bringing in typographer Rob Clarke—when Milton developed it in the 1980s, it was typeset in a way that doesn’t gel with contemporary design.  

“It's a truly iconic identity,” said Simon Forster, Robot Food founder. “We were massively respectful of it. We left the core 'B' untouched and chose to amplify and simplify what surrounded it, opting to adjust the clarity and spacing of the lettering and using the brand name 'Brooklyn Brewery' consistently around the 'B' mark—for every range for the first time.”

Of course, even with the B taking on a more prominent role, they needed to ensure that they brought character to all of their beers. “By having such a strong central brand, it freed up the rest of the pack to become a canvas on which we could express the personality and individuality of each range,” noted Ben. “Separating master brand and range in this way allowed for much stronger and singular expressions."   

Summer Ale gets glistening water while the Stonewall Inn IPA receives modestly tweaked gorgeous rainbow lines against a black background. The Bel Air Sour gets a 50s Formica countertop blue complete with speckles, and the Defender IPA gets superhero-styled yellow lightning bolts. And, of course, the non-alcoholic Special Effects Hoppy Lagers goes deep with trippy patterns—and are those warped bananas? What kind of non-booze hell is this? Regardless, the cleaner identity futureproofs the brand for potential new beers and offerings.

Plus, that harmonized identity makes it easier for folks to instantly recognize that, yes, you’ve found Brooklyn Brewery in the beer cooler. While many craft brewers eschew a united visual design suite, some of your best suds can get lost in the haze of unhinged beer branding. That might even make you wonder—is it necessary for a craft brewer to do this? Do you even need a united front?

“All brands rely on recognition, and every craft beer brand has a visual signature that it uses to get noticed,” said Simon. “Brooklyn Brewery was one of the first craft breweries, and on so many levels, it still remains an original and a pioneer today. Pioneers don't look over their shoulders or rest on their laurels. That's why I believe this represents another progressive step in the brand's journey as it looks to connect with a wider audience of beer lovers globally.”

In the end, it’s likely the best outcome for the brewery. You keep the logo (because why would you tweak it to death), and you get to have a little fun with the background, adding pop and personality to a brewery that could use a little more in an oversaturated, beer-soaked market.