Design Bridge reconnects New Holland Brewing Co to Dutch roots

Creative agency Design Bridge New York worked with craft beer brand, New Holland Brewing Co., to develop a new visual identity and packaging that reaffirms the brewery’s place in the craft beer market, taking inspiration from its Midwestern-Dutch heritage.

With the craft beer market becoming increasingly competitive, the core brand’s distinctive qualities had gotten lost across the years. To set it apart from competitors, Design Bridge took inspiration by the spirit and symbols of Dutch culture in the brand’s hometown of Holland, Michigan, uniting the brewery’s heritage with its distinctly Midwestern attitude. The result is a fresh brand that connects with contemporary beer drinkers.

Design Bridge sought to re-establish a strong sense of pride in the brand, as the team learnt about the historic influence New Holland Brewing Co has had on the city’s culture and the deep rooted connections it has with the people living and working there.

“During our trip [to Holland] we were reminded of the concept of ‘gezellig’, an all-encompassing feeling at the heart of Dutch culture that spans comfortable to relaxing, enjoyable to gregarious. Embodying the brand’s spirit of togetherness, we combined this idea with the Midwest’s traditional yet progressively pioneering attitude to breathe new life into the brand,” says Mike Perry, creative director at Design Bridge.

The new visual identity draws on the windmills that surround the area, centring the design around a fresh interpretation of the brand’s windmill equity. Design Bridge retained the brand’s core orange, which symbolises Dutch national pride, but introduced a contemporary navy blue into the refreshed colour palette. The team also collaborated on a custom typeface and new illustration style, which were inspired by Dutch delft pottery and vintage ‘welcome’ signs uncovered on their trip to the city.

To ensure that New Holland Brewing Co.’s products truly stood out, Design Bridge created a new design system that incorporates a large primary rendered on a simple colour background to highlight each product and flavour, creating consistency and shelf visibility among the top panels of each variant’s packaging.

“The rebrand not only captured our true spirit but also uncovered amazing stories worth telling that were right under our nose,” says Adam Dickerson, brand manager for New Holland Brewing Co.