Here comes the Sol: Mexican beer brand’s handcrafted redesign inspires global launch
25 Mar 2020 --- Mexican beer brand Sol has enlisted design agency Vault49 to redesign its packaging to appeal to global markets. The new design intentionally stuck closely to Sol’s US 2018 redesign but “reinforces the new positioning of the sun at the heart of the brand,” Sam Wilkes, Creative Director at Vault49, tells PackagingInsights. Taking advantage of its handcraft aesthetic, this new design aims to fortify the sunny cerveza’s brand language to resonate with audiences around the world.
“The aim was to create a global look and feel, as we were tasked to to premiumize and align global markets with our sun-centric positioning. We redesigned the assets through handcrafted techniques authentic to Mexican art and brought more clarity to the sun, rays and clouds,” Wilkes explains.
Sol states that its goal was to part with its previous “gritty, rebellious identity” and dawn into a more luminescent space to summon “sunny urban adventures” to its consumers. Without deviating far from the original illustration style or text formatting, the new design features warmer yellow tones and more textured sun rays. The thicker sun rays are indeed a new focal point of the brand, now bursting out and dissipating the previous horizontal, slightly diagonal frame.
Sol's 2018 brand (left) versus the new rebrand. The designers used a hand-cut lino print to create the sun rays after having learned about artisanal saddle making, the company notes. Its sun rays now shine across the majority of the labeling to “hero the golden tones to evoke the continuation of the sun rays,” Wilkes outlines.
Prominent design features remain on the front, as the back of the bottle continues to list only beverage content information. Vault49 also kept the positioning, size and font of its signature “Sol” brand name on the front of the bottle, noting it is “here to stay.”
Facing a global launch, Sol’s Spanish labeling is also not subject to change as a matter of authenticity, Wilkes highlights. “You have to consider the substrate when rolling out a brand language. It’s a Mexican beer and we want to celebrate its heritage and sense of place. The language has never changed throughout the history of Sol,” they conclude.
Similarly seeking to polish up its heritage-rich image, Britain’s oldest brewer Shepherd Neame recently collaborated with aluminum beverage can manufacturer Canpack and design agency Identica to rebrand its iconic Spitfire beer.
By Anni Schleicher
