My first project with Aslan was to design their lion icon, which has come to be known as the “hop head”. I was challenged with finding a way to create a unique image featuring a lion that somehow also represented beer. It needed to be iconic, instantly recognizable, and timeless. After days and days of sketching lions, hops, and many other beer related imagery, and many late night chats in the warehouse with Aslan owner Jack Lamb, we made a grand revelation: the silhouette of a hop cone has a striking resemblance to that of a lion’s mane. And at that moment the Aslan hop head was born.

For the typography, I drew inspiration from the past and created a wordmark using a typeface called Garage Gothic - one reminiscent of 40’s and 50’s lead typeset posters and metal stamps. It needed to mesh with the minimal, clean nature of the hop head icon while remaining neutral to allow function in many forms and design scenarios.

While Garage Gothic works fantastic as the headline or title typeface, I wanted a alternative, complimentary typeface for body copy and other text throughout the branding. For this, I went with my personal favorite font: Futura. For me, it’s crisp, geometric form is the the perfect contrast to the condensed, somewhat rugged feeling Garage Gothic. Futura is such an enduring typeface; designed in 1927 by Paul Renner, it’s still found everywhere in modern design. I first fell in love with it as a teen watching the films of Wes Anderson in which he generously features the typeface.