Berczy Hard Seltzer Packaging Infuses Cheeky British Humor Into The Design

Inspired by fusing cheeky British humor and contemporary specialty grocery markets, Berczy is a seltzer brand with packaging by Studio HMVD that brings a new perspective to the market. The goal was to create a simple, minimalistic design that feels bright and airy through a radiant color palette and lively typography system. The balance within the design feels decidedly modern, with a delightfully British attitude.

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Award-winning British hard seltzer brand Berczy, makes the best hard seltzer we’ve ever tried— really, proper good hard seltzer. They came to us with an exciting proposition: launch Berczy on American soil, starting with the east coast and expanding out.

While Berczy is just one of a few hard seltzers in Great Britain, they’re a drop in the bucket when it comes to the American hard seltzer market. With macro breweries launching with big-name celebrities left and right, we knew we needed to position Berczy and update their brand to make a splash.

Starting with strategy, consumer and industry research we found the distinct attributes that made people opt for hard seltzer over other beverages, and then what made certain brands stand out above others. Additionally, we identified that while many brands leaned into taste, quality or celebrity endorsement, no one else could claim to be the only Brits at the pub.

We then set to work on updating Berczy’s brand identity, leaning into color palettes and cheeky copy influenced by the British invasion of the 1960’s and Monty Python. Additionally, we wanted to ensure that Berczy would feel right at home in contemporary pop-up grocers and specialty liquor stores.

Balancing these two opposing aesthetics led us to update the soft pastels of the Berczy visual identity to bright, saturated yet warm tones that have more punch, pomp and circumstance. We increased the size of the type and changed the rules of the typographic system to speak with a bit more of Berczy’s accent. Finally, we added a set of delightful tone-on-tone patterns that reminded us of nan’s tea set, while still being distinctly of the moment.

Our brand identity update and prior research led us to one big conclusion when it came to the packaging system: the hard seltzer space lacks color, and is heavy on the white boxes with splashing cans and floating fruit.

We took a decidedly minimalistic, but boldly monochromatic approach with tonal color pairings that related to the distinct flavor four-packs. For the variety pack, we leaned in to Berczy’s evergreen teal, and brought a wave of color onto the side to show off the flavor names.

To contrast with the lush illustrations on the can, we used simplified, single color icons of the dominant fruit in the flavor.

While we went minimalistic with the overall package, we did still uphold the industry standard of having an image of the can on the box. We felt this added clarity for the consumer as to what they were purchasing, while still displaying the information in an inventive way.

Throughout the packaging, we used typography and witty copy to clearly explain brand attributes and markers of quality, like premium distilled spirits and all natural ingredients. We wove in the brand’s sustainability efforts through the use of a carbon neutral seal alongside the origin story on the bottom panel.

Berczy launched in New Jersey in summer of 2022, and were quickly stocked in over 200 stores in the area. Currently, they’re expanding up and down the east coast, staking their claim in key metropolitan areas and the surrounding suburbs. To all this, we say, “cheers— and watch out, the British are coming!”