Rayvn design gives spirits Canada's branding a contemporary makeover while representing their legacy

By Denny Kurien RGD, Co-founder & creative director of Rayvn Design

Context

Spirits Canada is a 75-year old national trade organization that represents the distilled spirits industry in Canada. They came to us to do an identity redesign as they felt their current branding was out-dated and it needed a modern outlook to resonate better with their role and the current marketplace. Also, their old logo featured a martini glass, while historically, their mainstay has always been Canadian rye whisky. Rayvn Design was tasked to create a premium brand for Spirits Canada — one that balances the contemporary with the cultural heritage and legacy of Spirits Canada.

Methodology

We discovered that Canada has been making rye whisky since before the country even became a country. For over two centuries, distillers have been transforming grain grown by Canadian farmers into one of our highest valued products. This became the basis for the rebranding.

This idea is incorporated into the logo through the copper whisky still, the bottle, the tumbler and rye grains. We used a refined earth-tone colour palette of browns with gold-foil stamping on the marketing collaterals and stationary to pay homage to the gold of the rye whisky stills and grain. This was paired with a customized, elegant typeface, giving the new branding a distinguished and refined look.

We developed their website, corporate stationary, social media assets, office wall motifs and exhibition booth posters & banners with the new branding. We are currently working on a creating members' portal for their website, which will be launching shortly.

Result

The new brand refresh launched in December 2022 and it is still too early to tell how it impacts Spirits Canada's business. However, the client and their Board of Directors are extremely happy with the final outcome.

I have to say that Spirits Canada is as close to a perfect client as designers can expect. They trusted the design process and challenged us to deliver great work. We're very glad that they are now our regular clients.

Interested in submitting a project? Fill out this form.