Richmond’s OG craft brewery and Richmond’s OG fractional AOR.

Match made in beer branding heaven.

We’ve been drinking Hardywood brews and taking our kids/dogs/significant others to Hardywood’s breweries since they opened here in Richmond back in 2011. So when they asked us to refresh their brand and visual identity for their 10 year anniversary, we said “heck yes.”

While Hardywood is known as the largest craft brewery in Virginia, their roots actually begin in Australia. Where a well-timed meet-up at a sheep station brought the founders’ passion for homebrewing and craft beer culture into sharp focus.

Through our strategy process—something we do for every design project at Familiar Creatures—we discovered this experience laid the foundation for the brand's purpose. Hardywood truly believes "our community deserves the best, no matter what it takes."

Bringing this purpose to life not only helps with communications, but how the company chooses to operate in the future.

Enter the sheep. And a barrel. And new positioning.

We created an identity and strategy for Hardywood that was highly crafted, yet approachable and inclusive enough for everyone, not just beer aficionados. (Hardywood's community isn't just beer experts, after all.)

The new branding speaks to their ambition of making the highest quality brews and experiences for their neighbors, employees, RVA community, and Virginia as a whole.

On the logo, the sheep nods to their past, an H on a barrel nods to their present, and the overall friendliness points to their future as they aim to widen their audience.

Hardywood uses a lot of wood in their taprooms, so we aimed to modernize their rustic, traditional feel with vector patterns. We based the color palette around the teals and maroons of their downtown and West Creek locations.

We were honored to help plan the brand launch event and share the stage with the founders themselves as they unveiled the new branding to their employees and press. 

Here's a digital cheers to another awesome 10 years!