Zydeco music is a genre that evolved in southwest Louisiana by French Creole speakers, blending blues, rhythm & blues, and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and the Native people of Louisiana. The culture surrounding the music celebrates the dead and is linked to Voodoo.
All this history is wrapped up in a new brewery in Ybor, Florida called Zydeco Brew Werks. My affinity for skeletal characters got me excited about building a new brand with such a name.
The two founders of the new brewery and restaurant combined their backgrounds as a beer distributor and a brew-master from Philadelphia who had grown weary managing over 1,000 employees to crank out a national beer brand. As they joined forces, their enthusiasm for renovating a downtown landmark and creating outstanding brews was unstoppable.
The duo expressed that their brand should visually represent the mystique of Louisiana. Although in Florida, the district where their building resided was styled much like that of the French Quarter. With that in mind, I roughed out some ideas that would incorporate a custom type treatment and iconic character to carry the name.
"Bones" as he was called sported a top hat and bow tie as he works a squeezebox. He quickly became the mascot and the legend for the new brewery began. The entire project resulted in the custom typography, character development, wallpaper patterns, bar tap designs, apparel, and craft beer labels.
See the original type designs concept sketches and applications below.
