Great Grey Brewing Co
Type
Branding, Illustration, Motion, Packaging
Location
Conestoga College
Year
2023
Crafting Stories in Every Sip
Great Grey Brew Co. is a brand built on the thrill of late-night campfire stories, where every crack of a beer can is like flipping the page of an old cryptid hunter’s journal. Given only the name and a logo, I developed a full brand identity that transforms each beer into a legend of its own.
To expand the world, I created Uncle Grey’s Campfire Stories, a sub-series of beers inspired by eerie folklore and mysterious creatures. The illustrations mix vintage horror comics, exaggerated humor, and intense illustration style, striking a balance between spooky and playful. Each label feels like a relic, drawing drinkers into a world of strange encounters and tall tales.
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Through bold, narrative-driven design, Great Grey Brew Co. doesn’t just sell beer—it sells a story, inviting people to crack one open and get lost in the legend.
For this project, I was given just a name (Great Grey Brew Co.) and a logo—everything else was up to me. That meant building the entire brand from scratch, deciding on the personality, visual style, packaging, and marketing. But right away, I saw an opportunity to push the brand further and create something with a deeper narrative.
Since the illustrations had to work on beer cans, I made sure the designs were detailed enough to tell a story, but bold enough to stand out on a shelf. Layered textures, sketchy shading, and exaggerated expressions helped bring the creatures to life while keeping the look punchy and readable.
In the end, I merged many of the concepts I explored during the brainstorming phase into the final box and can designs. For instance, the Uncle Grey character, which started as a playful sketch, became an integral part of the box design. Combining elements from various ideas allowed me to craft a cohesive and engaging identity for the brand while maintaining the rich storytelling and illustrative intensity that I aimed for at the start of the project.
I found inspiration in everything from vintage comic illustrations to gross-out humor and quirky character designs, which brought a playful edge to the exploration phase. For example, some sketches featured wacky, exaggerated creatures with ridiculous expressions, while others leaned into absurd scenarios that could evoke a laugh or a grimace.
This diversity allowed me to approach the project with an open mind, testing ideas that ranged from creepy and atmospheric to funny and over-the-top. This playful experimentation balanced out the more serious, narrative-driven concepts and helped me refine a visual tone that could feel both engaging and accessible.
