Lewis Communications’ design director, Roy Burns III, uncorked the full potential of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail with a masterfully distilled visual identity. Roy’s poster designs perfectly balance heritage with today’s audience, transforming Kentucky from a birthplace to a bourbon pilgrimage destination. His poster series bottles the essence of Kentucky’s landscapes and craftsmanship, converting tourists into bourbon disciples with each visual that reveals layers of tradition beneath a contemporary finish. These posters, like the finest small-batch spirits, honor their roots while boldly blazing new trails.

By: Stephen Curry, Executive Creative Director, Lewis Communications

The Kentucky Distillers’ Association came to us with a big ask: Take a fresh look at the brand for the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and help them position it for future growth. As the birthplace of bourbon, Kentucky occupies a unique place in the souls of bourbon lovers. But in the midst of an American bourbon boom, copycat distilleries were beginning to appear in other states. We needed to reinforce Kentucky’s preeminence as the one true home of bourbon and elevate the Kentucky Bourbon Trail’s reputation as the world’s best place to experience bourbon. 

For nearly a year, we interviewed key stakeholders, including the frontline workers who interact with Trail visitors the most. The Bourbon Trail has already enjoyed enormous success, with some distilleries turning prospective visitors away. But in the midst of that success, we were able to identify a key growth opportunity: Attract an affluent visitor who perhaps flies in from greater distances and is inclined to spend more time and money enjoying the Trail. 

There’s enormous existing goodwill about the Bourbon Trail among bourbon enthusiasts. We sought to harness that and reward their interest and curiosity. Our research into historic trail markers from the 1920s and 1930s inspired our new graphic identity for the KBT: clean and modern, yet deeply rooted in tradition. 

Our goal was to elevate the Trail, create a sense of attainable luxury, and make it seem more modern, more upscale, and less agricultural. Also, an all-new web experience was created to explain the Trail better and simplify trip planning for visitors. Our posters were designed to reinforce the primacy of Kentucky as the one true home of bourbon and Kentucky’s reputation as the keeper of the craft.  

One of the things we’ve found immensely satisfying about the project is the economic impact our branding will have on growing employment in Kentucky. As of today, 60 distilleries have now joined the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, more than at any point in its history. That, in turn, generates more marketing revenue for the KDA and allows them to support the bourbon industry further. Visitor counts to the KBT have continued to grow since our rebrand, surpassing 2.5 million last year.

Lewis Communications is an internationally acclaimed creative marketing agency. With more than 100 employees across three offices, we develop branding, creative, and advertising solutions based on our own business intelligence and data science that deliver provable results with measurable ROI.

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