Hopleaf Pale Ale rebrand aims to return to its iconic status

Hopleaf Pale Ale, a Malta beer brand, unveiled a new visual identity to deliver a modern shelf presence and honour its brewing legacy. Collaborating with bluemarlin, the brand aims to reposition itself in craft beer culture.

Hopleaf Pale Ale was introduced to Malta in 1928 with its iconic red leaf. Gradually, the design lost its presence in a flurry of generic beer design. Brand design agency bluemarlin’s redesign brought the red leaf icon back to the forefront.

Previously, the leaf appeared tiny on products with a word-heavy design and a maroon and gold colour scheme. Redrawn by hand, the leaf now has a larger silhouette and a two-tone depth. Against a warm cream background inspired by Maltese limestone, the design suggests a fresh, sessionable taste. Losing the ostentatious golds and keeping the deep maroons for accents, Hopleaf delivers modern authority while standing out on the shelf.

A new workmark refines the design, which is defined by its balanced strength and approachability with subtle heritage cues like “Originally brewed by H. & G. Simonds, Ltd,” without the clutter of the past look.

“The previous design was tired and lacked relevance,” says Samantha Dumont, executive creative director at bluemarlin. “We knew we had to go back to the brand’s roots and focus on Hopleaf’s unique and iconic red leaf as the primary brand asset.”

Bluemarlin didn’t want to follow the overused trend of creating a retro or heritage pack. Instead, they worked to refashion the traditional assets of Hopleaf’s legacy design.

With the visual rebrand, Hopleaf has rebalanced its beer for contemporary tastes with a smoother, rounder taste and a slightly lower ABV.