How brands can grow over time
Lessons learnt from Charnwood Brewery and its micropubs
As brand designers, we constantly consider which elements of a brand should remain core and which can be more flexible. Making these decisions early in the branding process allows the brand to evolve and stay relevant, while still preserving the essence of what makes it recognisable. The aim is to ensure that certain elements, like the logo, remain consistent over time, while others, such as illustration style, can adapt and shift with changing trends. Using Charnwood Brewery as a case study, this blog post will analyse some of the decisions made which has meant that on its 10th birthday, the brewery and the micropubs remain recognisable (and much loved) in the community.
One of the clearest lessons from Charnwood Brewery’s story is the importance of starting with a strong yet flexible brand identity. When Charnwood Brewery first launched, we worked with them to create a brand identity that was simple, bold and instantly recognisable. The fox emblem, clean typography, and strong colour palette gave the young brewery a sense of confidence and clarity that stood out on crowded bars and shop shelves.
We set Charnwood Brewery up with a primary colour palette, guidelines on how the logo could be used playfully, a tagline and a core illustration style. Quickly, the fox emblem got a name, Clarence, and a bit of a following! We loved seeing customers engaging with the brand – with one person even using Clarence as their profile picture!
As their product range expanded, so too did the design language. Seasonal beers and special editions introduced colour and variety, but the underlying system ensured everything still felt unmistakably “Charnwood.” This careful balance between consistency and experimentation has helped the brand stay fresh while never losing its core identity. The identity was designed to stretch – seasonal beers used a variety of illustration styles, fonts and colours to both add interest to the range while also capturing the character of each beer.
Clarence too enjoyed a degree of flexibility, adorning different outfits for different seasons and even gaining a girlfriend for Valentine’s day and a son for Father’s day.
We’ve been fortunate to work with Charnwood Brewery on an ongoing basis – helping to shape their design language and being trusted with decisions around the identities of their new ventures. Typically, a brand agency is brought in at the start of a project and then plays a smaller role as time goes on. Our journey with Charnwood has been different: it’s given us the opportunity to reflect, adapt, and make choices that continually strengthen the brand. Now, as the brewery celebrates its 10th year, much of the identity remains true to day one. At the same time, each new seasonal beer adds fresh energy, reinforcing the design language rather than diluting it.
The move into micropubs opened up new opportunities for the brand to evolve. We’ve partnered with Charnwood on all three of their venues, ensuring each one feels part of the family but with its own personality. The Sorrel Fox, their first, was intentionally intimate, with a classic and sophisticated design, whilst ensuring Clarence did not look out of place adorning the walls. Hall Croft Tap followed with a broader palette, more space, outdoor seating, and design touches that encouraged sociability. Their most recent site, The Fox Cub, pushed the design forward again with lighter interiors, bi-fold doors, and a more contemporary feel. Across these projects, our role has been to interpret the brewery’s core identity into environments that both reflect local character and reinforce the strength of the Charnwood brand.
Charnwood has built its reputation on beers that not only win awards but are reliably excellent, pint after pint. As brands grow, there’s always a risk that attention shifts towards expansion at the expense of what made the brand special in the first place. Charnwood avoided that trap by keeping product excellence at the heart of their business. Customers who visit a new Charnwood micropub expect, and receive, the same great pint they’ve enjoyed at the brewery shop or in other local pubs.
Charnwood shows how a brand can be flexible to fit different places and moments. Their identity flows easily across packaging, pubs, signage, merchandise, and digital platforms, so wherever you come across the brewery, it feels like part of the same story. At the same time, each micropub has its own personality, with its own look and atmosphere. Striking that balance between consistency and individuality isn’t easy, but when it works, it creates a family of experiences that feel connected without ever feeling identical.
