Featured Design Contest: Taps Beer Reserve – Brewery Logo

Your logo is one of the first impressions customers get of your business. At Hatchwise, we understand just how much of a difference the right logo can make. While a mediocre logo can lead to customers overlooking you, an attractive design that complements your business can help you connect with your target audience and increase sales.

Our Hatchwise creatives can deliver the top-quality designs you need under strict deadlines. Take a look at a contest that a taproom recently ran to see the creativity that awaits you on Hatchwise.

What Was Requested

Several years ago, Taps Growler House ran a contest on Hatchwise to find the perfect logo for their new taproom. When the owners recently decided to open their second location—Taps Beer Reserve—they once again turned to Hatchwise to help them with this vital branding asset.

Taps Beer Reserve identifies its target audience as white- and blue-collar males in their 30s to 50s. Its slogan is simple: “Craft Beer, Cider & Wine,” because that’s what they offer.

The owners requested an emblem-style logo that incorporated a beer tap somewhere in the design. They also specified a strong, masculine color palette, such as reds, blues, greens, and browns. The design needed to be versatile enough for various mediums, including digital media, printed materials, merchandise, and signage.

A Few of the Entries

Overall, this contest received over 100 entries. Here are some of the ones that stood out to our team.

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#1864309 by quimcey

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The word ‘reserve’ is usually associated with protected tracks of land where wildlife can live without the threat of hunting, deforestation, and other types of human interference.

This design really leans into this association with the untamed wilds. Most of this logo is drawn to look like natural wood, as if the sign has been hand carved. It also features the silhouettes of wild animals and plants.

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#1864152 by Luk_man

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This entry is simple but powerful. It features the lid of a beer barrel with a tap handle on a black background with the company’s name and slogan.

The color palette is limited to just three colors: brown, white, and gold. This logo is adaptable to a wide range of applications, both printed and digital. You can just as easily envision it on a t-shirt or a sign as you could as a social media profile picture.

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#1863418 by sardor

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The imagery of a beer barrel lid was popular, with several variations. This entry added a pop of color. The outer edge of the lid is rimmed with red.

The application is deliberately streaky, making it look like it was painted by hand. Combined with the fact that we can see each board in the lid, it gives the logo a rustic vibe.

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#1863634 by Artwizard1966

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Here we have another example of a design that incorporates both the barrel lid image and the connection with wildlife.

However, this designer also incorporated the ingredients used in the products sold at the taproom: wheat for beer and bunches of grapes for wine. 

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#1864071 by faaZ

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This entry uses a very simplistic, modern design. Two circles suggest the lid of a beer barrel in a minimalistic way.

The line art has a two-toned ombre effect, with a rust orange at the top fading into mahogany at the bottom.

A stream of golden liquid flows from the tap into the inner circle. Unlike other designs, this one uses a more streamlined sans-serif font for the company’s name and slogan.

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#1863097 by robertdc

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Stepping away from the barrel lid imagery, this entry is reminiscent of an old western saloon sign with inverted rounded corners and an elaborate, embellished font that is still easy to read.

The design of the beer tap is more streamlined than some of the others, but the background is designed to look like natural wood.

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#1863159 by wongsanus

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This entry focuses on the company’s name above any other design element.

The typography uses flowing lines with tapered ends and a two-toned ombre effect that transitions from a light brown to a much deeper brown. The silhouette of the beer tap is fairly simple against a starburst background.

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#1864039 by blash

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Here we have another entry that drew inspiration from the association with wildlife. It uses a warm palette of reds and oranges with a brown background.

The oranges form a gradient from a lighter shade inside to a darker shade outside, mimicking a sunset. Three flying waterfowl are silhouetted against this sunset.

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#1864288 by hokajams

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Sometimes, simpler is better. This entry uses a simple design style with a brown, yellow, and red palette. It features a frothing beer mug with a tap sticking out of the side.

The background is an interesting silhouette, with the dark brown providing strong contrast that makes the yellow of the beer pop.

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#1864321 by blackletter

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This entry puts the focus on the beer tap that the client requested. It is the most intricate part of the design, with detailed shading to make it look more realistic than some of the other designs.

This entry also used natural wood texture to make the logo look rustic.

The Winner

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Winning design by me&you. The designer was awarded $150 for this design.

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While there were many amazing designs, this is the one that Taps Beer Reserve chose to represent their company.

It is unique from the other entries with its hexagonal design.

However, it also uses elements we saw in other designs, such as natural wood textures and silhouettes of wildlife.

This entry also adds shadows behind some of the typography to give it a beveled appearance, adding dimension to the design.

Check out other Brewery Logo Design contests:

8 Phase Brewing – Microbrewery and brewpub. Audience are knowledgeable craft beer drinkers. Various styles of craft beer including wilds and sour beers

Rivers And Rails Brewing Co. – An upcoming brewing company in northwestern Minnesota. The name Rivers and Rails is derived from their riverside location and a nearby railroad. Their building is a rustic, brick old water treatment plant renovated into a brewery. The atmosphere will be rustic with a wide offering of classical and modern beer types.

Build-A-Beer Flight Challenge – Grist Iron Brewing Company is a craft brewery in Upstate NY and they are partnering with Southern Tier Running Club (a local nonprofit club) to host the first ever Build-a-Beer Flight Challenge event. Basically they are targeting both serious athletes and not-so-serious athletes (anyone who likes craft beer) to come out in teams of 4, dress in a fun beer-themed team uniform, then complete a series of 8 stations throughout a marked area

Funk Brewing Company – The original thought was for “Funk” to be with some type of 3d block lettering and “Brewing” to be in a sharp cursive font. Initial colors were thought to be Purple and Black. Target audience is mainly 25 to 34 year old males and females with some emphasis on 21 to 25 year olds as well. Main demographic is secondary educated middle and upper class.

Dop Brewing Company – A fresh new brewery, with dop (dope) new ideas of community and beer making. Hoping to bring people together, to take a step back from the race and breathe. Leave the religion, race, politics, age at home, and experience life together over a glass of brew. No boundaries just good drinks and better memories.