This article was first published on CODO Design’s blog. Head over there to see more behind the scenes images for North Pier and glimpses into many more craft beer branding projects.
Man, Michigan has a lot of beer. As of early 2016, Michigan is home to 205 distinct craft breweries, and that’s tough for me to wrap my head around. It seems that here in Indiana, we’ve only recently crested to 100. For Michigan, those 205 breweries represent almost 800,000 bbls of craft beer produced annually. That’s over three gallons PER ADULT — or, my personal consumption over a given weekend. Jokes aside, beer is a really big deal in the state. Maybe there’s something in the water. Beer in the water? Need to investigate.
Even taking into account the old guard craft breweries of the east coast and the alluringly hip beer scene of the western United States, Michigan is a crown jewel of beer, both nationally and for the Midwest/Great Lakes region. When I first got into the stuff, you couldn’t go out to eat without someone ordering a bottle or two of Bell’s Two Hearted. And Founder’s Breakfast Stout is a regular in the rotation for many here in central Indiana. Newer offerings like Greenbush Brewing Co. in Sawyer, Mich., are established as one-stop, must-see destinations for tourists and aficionados alike. Of the states that border our own, Michigan is the undisputed heavyweight champion of craft beer. This fact was not lost on us when we were hired to brand a new brewery in Benton Harbor, Mich.
Jay Fettig, from neighboring St. Joseph, is an avid traveler and closet death metal fan (though you wouldn’t suspect it given his mild, observant demeanor). Along with friends and family, Jay decided that Michigan needed another brewery. Jay and Co. (including head brewer Steve Distasio, by way of Rogue Ales in Oregon) had the ambition to create a family-friendly, Belgian-focused destination brewery in their home town, adjacent to a PGA golf course and mere minutes from the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan. So, that’s what they did. Enter North Pier Brewing Co.
Driving up to Benton Harbor from Indianapolis is a little like time travel. You pass small, struggling towns without two gas stations to rub together. You skirt the Notre Dame campus in South Bend. You cross the Indiana/Michigan border and arrive in a sprawling burg that’s seen its share of hard times, evidenced by weathered little out-buildings and decades-old advertising signage. Benton Harbor has flashes of charm: mortar work, stone and tile, industrial architecture — all the stuff that interior designers love to fetishize and reproduce. Here and there are storefront properties that are white-boxed and ready to be inhabited. The duality of decay and charm makes sense: Benton Harbor was once a grand tourist destination, drawing visitors from all over the Midwest to enjoy the local amenities. If you visit long enough today, residents will reference the town’s history of social strife in hushed, serious tones. At first glance, the community reads as rugged, maybe a little dodgy in places, but defiant. Resilient.
(Oh, and celebrated ’90s comedian Sinbad was born in Benton Harbor. Feel free to don your loudest silk button-up and affix your most stunning dangly earring before you finish reading this. You know, to get in the mood. Go on. We’ll wait.)
Just minutes from downtown, we met Jay and his co-conspirators to tour the building that was to become North Pier Brewing. At that time, it was a dusty old auto garage with a tacky office frankensteined onto the side. Very little renovation was done at this point, so it took some imagination to discern the true potential of the space. However, we’ve toured enough pre-development properties to recognize it immediately. Beyond the property, idyllic suburban single-family developments flank an internationally recognized golf course. Go just a bit further and you arrive at Jean Klock Park and the shore of Lake Michigan. It was still too cold to get our toes wet, but the low rhythm of water lapping sodden sand provided a serene, new-agey pause to our day trip. Here we observed the St. Joseph North Pier Lighthouse, which lends North Pier Brewing its name, and serves as something of a symbol for the area.
We grabbed lunch directly across the street from the soon-to-be North Pier Brewing, at a little dive bar called North Shore Inn. Once ensconced in North Shore’s dim confines, your eyes wander across stools occupied by sassy middle-aged regulars. Your gaze settles upon a full-color painted mural of a Spanish bullfighting arena on the wall. “Why does the bull on the mural sport such lovingly-crafted plaster testicles?” you wonder privately, stomach growling. You scan the menu — a no-frills lineup of burgers and sides. Wait, so why do the coasters say “Authentic Mexican Food?” See, on the weekends, North Shore Inn converts to a Mexican joint. Everyone knows that. Never mind the fact that Spanish bullfighting has very little to do with Mexican cuisine; we don’t care about that here. You won’t care either, when the quintessential bar burger (the kind that leaves you in a blissful grease coma) is presented in front of you, hot, juicy and flavorful, alongside a basket of fresh pork cracklins that sizzle and contort on the surface of your tongue. Perfection. Make no mistake: This joint gets the coveted CODO Seal of Approval®.
We hold casual meetings at venues like these to make sure we’re on the same page as our clients. Over more than one beer, Jay outlined his desire to reference the actual North Pier Lighthouse somewhere, somehow in the logo itself. After all, there is a romantic sense of guidance associated with the image of a lighthouse. At the same time, he recognized that this imagery might be cliché: crappy clip-art lighthouses are often used in logos for churches, financial services and medical offices. Yuck. Ultimately, in the final identity, we chose to eliminate the lighthouse entirely and focus on the light itself. Paired with rugged, hand-rendered industrial typography, those harsh angles and beaming rays begin to tell a story of a community that exudes an elusive charm, in spite of a history of hard times. That may seem heady, but I implore you: visit Benton Harbor and tell me I’m wrong.
We’ve met a lot of folks who have the intention to open a brewery, and you can generally sort ‘em into a few different categories. There are the “money guys,” who see the impressive growth of craft beer purely as a business opportunity. With these types, the actual craft of brewing is often an afterthought. Alternatively, there are the spartan, boot-strapped brewers with a headstrong DIY outlook, who dream of doing what they love for a living, but as a result, often neglect the finer touches that comprise a pleasant customer brand experience. And then, there are people who love to consume craft beer, love the culture, love the variety and the experience of trying styles both familiar and experimental. These people love to travel all over the world and absorb all the nuances and foibles of craft beer culture. I would definitely put Jay & Co. in the latter category.
Why? Find out on the next page after this shameless attempt to get another click. There’s also a bunch of cool photos and stuff. Thanks for indulging us.
Ultimately, your intentions will shape the outcome of your brewing business. If you only care about money, your beer might not turn out so great. If you’re cynical and think people don’t know what great beer tastes like, trust me, you are wrong. If you aspire to be the aloof guy with a beard who exclusively brews balls-to-the-wall small batch ÜBERBRAU, more power to you, but keep in mind, you may wind up alienating potential macro converts, warding them away from the craft beer market through sheer intimidation.
HOWEVER, if you approach the field with a genuine love and knowledge of craft beer — not just the stuff that goes in the glass, or into your wallet — you will have the perspective you need to deliver a great experience to your customers. ALL of your customers.
Of all the nice things I can say about North Pier Brewing, I would say this: It feels like a brewery that anyone can enjoy. If there’s to be a craft beer bubble, it will be the result of too many breweries offering unremarkable products and lackluster experiences for their would-be customers. Thankfully for us, and for the formidable Michigan beer scene, North Pier is not one of those breweries.
Jay and the team behind North Pier grew up in the area, have had a chance to travel and absorb different brewery experiences and understand at a fundamental level how compelling a craft brewery space can be. They’re coming at things from a holistic approach. Yes, they’ve got good beer, but it isn’t enough. They’ve also got solid branding, a consistent public image, a purpose-built ‘third place’ setting that people in the community are already flocking to hang out in, and a business model that is flexible enough to weather changes in the market. They’ve got a responsive website that people can actually use. You can’t drag your ass in Michigan when it comes to selling beer, after all.
So, there’s another brewery open in Michigan. It features a friendly staff plus some nice, clear way-showing signage. There’s a cool taproom with garage-door style windows and a patio. It’s close to the beach, so you can grab a growler and go enjoy the weather. Bring the whole family. There’s nitro coffee on tap, a freshly waxed shuffleboard table and some wicked t-shirts for sale. The beer is well-made and tastes great (fantastic, actually). If you don’t feel up to driving all the way to the Grand Rapids area, it would make a nice little day trip. Be sure to stop by North Shore Inn and grab a burger. You’ll thank us; that is, once you regain your wits.
This column was provided by the folks at CODO Design, a five-man branding firm based in Indianapolis, IN. They’ve spent years working with startup craft breweries on naming, branding and positioning, responsive web design, and package design. They’ve gathered their experience into a comprehensive Craft Beer Branding Guide to help startup breweries navigate the entire branding process. Check it out at www.craftbeerbrandingguide.com.
