Kelham Island Brewery
Location - Sheffield, UK
Year - 2023
Design Credits - Peter & Paul
Photo Credits - Kelham Island/Peter & Paul
Explore - Kelham Island Brewery
Kelham Island Brewery rides again, with a bold and brave new look
Late last year Kelham Island Brewery, (Sheffield’s oldest independent brewery) was saved from closure by a collaboration between several Sheffield business owners who couldn’t bear to see this crucial part of the city's brewing heritage disappear.
Among the new owners are Jim Harrison of Thornbridge Brewery (where the beer is now brewed) and Peter Donohoe, founder of Sheffield creative studio Peter & Paul - the agency behind the distinctive new creative direction for the brand.
Kelham Island’s flagship beer ‘Pale Rider' is the standard bearer for the new look and it’s an absolute step change creatively for the brand, which historically had trodden an understandably traditional path. As the studio puts it:
"Kelham is a man-made island shaped by industrial giants grafters grinders and beer. Home to the oldest independent brewery in Sheffield - a true pioneer. Rescued from the brink of collapse by a group of Sheffielders, the brewery needed a new brand identity that reflected modern Kelham whilst respecting its legacy. A logo inspired by the island itself colours picked from the brewery’s visual vault and typography cast from its industrial heritage creating a brand that’s evolving and living – like their beer. The Pale Rider rides on."
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Where to start with this one? It’s SUCH a radical departure from the Kelham Island of old. Very little remains (really only the cowboy motif, now rendered in a simple iconic style), yet it beautifully celebrates the legacy and location of the brewery in bold new ways.
The large, central ‘K’ motif actually takes it’s basis from the shape of the man-made island and the rest of the bespoke typography follows suit with a angular industrial look, evocative of the steelworks and other heavy industry on which Sheffield made its mark.
Supporting this central focal point of the clips and labels are more fluid background forms - still very much redolent of the area and the beers. From the fluid blue shape on ‘Pale Rider’ echoing the River Don which skirts the island and the more psychedelic 60’s approach for ‘Easy Rider’, to a limited edition release with Sheffield’s ledgendary artist Pete McKee featuring his iconic first ever mural ‘The Snog’ from 2013 - which adorns the side of Fagan’s pub in the city centre. It all allows for distinctive individual looks for the beers whilst establishing an easily recognised new presence for the brewery on the bar top.
I love this radical departure and it’s so good that this marks a new era for what must be one of the most revered breweries in Sheffield and beyond. I’ve been fortunate to sample the legendary Pale Rider in The Fat Cat and I’m excited to experience it again soon and see this new look up close!
Thanks to Kelham Island Brewery and Peter & Paul for the images featured in this blog.
