Micro adventures for a microbrewery
Bosun’s Brewing Company, a Yorkshire-based award-winning micro-brewery partnered with Yes/No to deliver a refresh of their brand through new packaging design & illustration for their first-ever range of canned beer.
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A new direction
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bosun's had to shift from wholesale cask ale to local pubs and move their business online to reach modern consumers nationwide. However, this presented a challenge as their existing designs were seen as old-fashioned and there was no coherent feel across several lines. There was a real need for a strong visual presence to connect with contemporary beer drinkers in a crowded market where beer labels are discussed and shared on social media.
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Building a narrative
With a name like Bosun’s, along with all the nautical heritage it implies, it was hard not to think about those collective, romanticised myths, legends and notions of brave seafaring adventurers - The question we kept asking was, who is Bosun? Where did they go and what stories do they have to tell?”
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Tall tales
Drawing inspiration from graphic novels and comic strips the design solution focused on the idea of a Bosun recounting tall tales of the sea. This gave us a rich world to play in, not just for the immediate can designs but for future beer lines, merchandise and advertising.
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A happy ending
We developed a story to link the new cans together, beginning with the beckoning ‘Arctic Myst,’ Bosun sets sail and in the end, (spoiler alert) ‘King Neptune’ appears to save the day. In the animated social sting, there’s a He-Man & Masters Of The Universe-inspired epilogue that sees the characters put aside their differences to peacefully enjoy a responsible beer together.
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Design details
A unique display typeface was created and the existing logo was refreshed into a bookmark icon, with each can representing a new chapter in Bosun's story. The resulting creative represents a brave new direction for Bosuns and one that will help steer their ship over the coming years.
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The new creative direction is something that we’ve all gotten really excited about. Having everyone internally feel proud of these designs has helped us get through some difficult times. The feedback from customers has been great, obviously, the beer tastes good! But people are enjoying the cans now too - they might think, oooh look there's a tentacle hiding behind the ship, what happens next?- or they might just enjoy drinking the beer! Either way, people seem to remember the beers and are sharing it with their friends."
James, Bosun's Brewing Co