Thirsty Witch Brewing Company is a brewery founded and operated solely by women in Raleigh, North Carolina. Inspired by the fact that less than 30% of the craft brewing industry is made up of women, with only two breweries in America owned by women of color, Thirsty Witch Brewing’s mission is to empower women in brewing.

Taking an unexpected and bold design approach by way of a fully type-driven system built around the typeface Glassure, a candy color palette, and a combination of vintage and contemporary imagery, Thirsty Witch accomplishes this mission in more than one way. Each brew is inspired by a notable woman in southern history, with the cans featuring a blurb on the back about the woman it was made in honor of. Additionally, the varieties of beverages available on tap cater to a female-heavy audience; studies show that women and the youngest generation of drinkers are developing a preference for options like ciders, hard seltzers, CBD-infused beverages, and even non-alcoholic mocktails; the tap list at Thirsty Witch reflects this, with options in those categories available.

The brewery is also host to the collective Brewcats, which provides support and community for women in brewing. This brand was built out in-depth, working seamlessly across multiple platforms while maintaining the brand’s personality and visual language. Using the following mood board and user profiles to guide the design, the deliverables include can labels, growlers, a website, social media, and more.

Drawing from collected demographic data, existing academic research, and generated user profiles, I chose to pursue a design direction that is minimal yet bold and punchy, while being 100% type-based, founded on the edgy typeface Glassure. These choices were all deliberately made in order to stand out from the expected illustrated look you see so often, especially in the south.