Northern Type Logo & Bottle Design
One of the final projects from my Sessions College coursework was to design the branding and bottle labels for a fictional brewery called Northern Type. My thorough research on the brief paid off: the instructor noted that I am the first student to recognize that “Northern Type” refers to the 4-8-4 wheel arrangement used on steam locomotives beginning in 1926. I incorporated that heritage into my design wherever possible.
The logo typeface is based on the compact lettering used on 20th century boxcars, with my addition of extended serifs on the N’s and R’s to lock in the name and give it a unique touch. On the labels I combined nostalgic color palettes with vector illustrations that echo the underlying meaning of the railroad slang each beer flavor is named for, and I incorporated circles into the logo to provide visual interest as well as an accurate depiction of the 4-8-4 pattern. I also purchased a set of vintage 1930's stubby bottles to use as the template for the labels and color-matched the bottle caps. Overall, the logo establishes a strong centralizing element, and the labels establish a visual style that could be easily applied to any new flavors the brand might add.
