Highlander Beer is a historic brewery that began in Missoula, MT. Its Scottish roots are remembered by the name and classic 'H' logo, but the new owners wanted to modernize the brand. Now, they cater to the Northwestern Adventurer and craft their beers the river towns of Missoula, MT & Salmon, ID.

About the brand:

brand refresh

2018

Highlander expanded & simplified their logo to reflect the change in ownership and the modern age. The horizontal layout & sans serif type was easier for them to use in marketing materials & packaging.

2024

Highlander approached me about developing brand imagery that could compliment & expand upon their existing logo, providing more size & shape variations, & designs that could be used for clothing & other merchandise.

1910-1964

Highlander started brewing
its first beers! Some of the beautiful vintage marketing materials are on display at the new tap-house!

new logo suite

I THEN CREATED BEER CAN MOCKUPS to visualize the new logo, color palettes, and typography. I designed the hypothetical labels based off of their existing beers so we could see how all of the elements could work together to create a cohesive series.

WITH THE NEW ADVENTUROUS IMAGERY, we expanded the logo suite, created a custom brand color palette for each season, and selected new typeface pairings to move in a more modern, graphic direction.

I started by creating a ribbon across the top of the beer cans that could change color with the variety. When lined up on a store shelf, they will create a continual line, connecting all of Highlander's beers. My goal was a clean & minimal look to feel more modern. A gradient is another consistent background element across all of the cans. This one feels very Montana summer evening, celebrating ranchers that work until dusk and enjoy a cold beer after a long day. The cacti bring the amplify the southwestern feel since it is a Mexican Lager.

POCKET COWBOY - Mexican Lager

The original Highlander cans are iconic, and since tartan patterns are very important to Scottish culture and for distinguishing lineage, I wanted to keep the original pattern. The metallic sheen and deep red elevate the design, and the simple text and label around the top keep it simple. A slight red gradient at the bottom helps the smaller text remain legible.

CLASSIC SCOTCH ALE

This is one of my favorite Highlander beers! Their current design is a symmetrical and graphic design, and I chose green as the main color to highlight the freshness of the strawberries. The deep red strawberries look so ripe it could make your mouth water. Overall, the design is delicate and sophisticated and the graphic style matches the other beers.

STRAWBERRY WHEAT

The intent of the name and psychadelic design on the original can is not lost on me. However, to fit into the outdoorsy theme of the brand, I interpreted the "haze" as wildfire smoke, as anyone living in Montana or Idaho is very familiar with. I kept that bright, juicy orange color and some more fresh greens. And actually, you don't really see where the smoke is coming from... so it could be from anywhere...

STRANGE HAZY - Juicy IPA

This is actually the first can I designed for the series. Once I saw it on the mock-up with that fancy metallic shimmer, I knew I had to design more. The purpose of this can was to use the tree silhouette elements from the logo refresh to establish a sort of formula for the clean and modern can designs following it. I wanted the beers cans colors to mimic the seasons in which they are available. Grizzly bears make me think of summer and fall, and red ale's scream 'Autumn' to me.