Dorset Orchards: Brand Design for Palmers Brewery

Palmers Brewery are home to some of the best-known and best-loved in the South West. Giving you a warm welcome in many of the prettiest locations. In country villages and on the World Heritage Jurassic Coast. Deep in Hardy Country. They’re the place to taste delicious food, relax with family and friends in great pub accommodation – and enjoy Palmers real ales!

Creative Solutions were commissioned by Palmers Brewery to design a new brand for a hazy cider they had developed. Having worked with Palmers Brewery on several signage and branding projects in the past, our team had a good understanding of the client's target audience and current branding, making us well placed to deliver a design that met their expectations. 

Our head graphic designer Leigh was set a detailed brief from which to work from. Palmers were looking to release a new hazy cider that appealed to a young to middle age demographic that would sit alongside their other brands 'Apple Bee' and 'First Press'. An initial brainstorming session with Palmers was conducted, looking at the current market to highlight trends and seeking to identify where the new 'Dorset Orchards' cider could sit within that. It was important that it appealed to a younger audience, standing out from competitors. 

From this meeting, Leigh was able to produce initial sketches of various brand design ideas. Research was conducted to see the best ways colour could be utilised to compliment the clients existing products, but also to compete against exisiting high street brands. 

Leigh then developed his ideas into visual mockups and produced a presentation with a physical mock-up. He presented a range of styles and options to representatives from Palmers, including feedback from a range of demographics on each of the options. The aim of the second design meeting was to select a design to proceed with and adapt. 

Having had a successful second stage meeting, a design was chosen. More colour ways were requested in order to try and appeal to a more unisex audience and also to convey a more authentic, traditional and timeless feel. There was a move away from the bright yellow design to a more subtle cream and dark green colour scheme. This gave the brand a more fresh, clean and crisp look, representing the flavour of the cider. 

The new cider - 'Orchard Haze' was launched on the 5th June 2017. 

To find out more about working with our Creative Design Studio, get in touch with our team on 01297 630130 or you can email us at studio@creativesolutions.co.uk.