Reimagining a Timeless Brand

Illustrator
Photoshop
🖊
Sketching

A Crafting a distinctive logo for a company renowned for elevating the cocktail and food industry.

The Challenge

The challenge for this logo redesign was to blend the history and prestige of the company with a modernized twist—to create a mark that would be timeless, simple and recognizable.

The Solution

Through the creative process I was able to design a logo that incorporated all the necessary themes in order to produce a timeless, yet modernized redesign sprinkled with cultural significance that elevates the company's brand.

Research & Conceptual Development

In my research, I was able understand the vivid history of Angostura Bitters and how it came to be. Following the rich timeline, from its creation as a medicinal tincture, to a family run and operated business, there were many important connections to be made. While learning about the company and the product, I also looked into cultural clues from both Trinidad and Tobago, as well as cocktail culture to help tell the bigger story. Taking my research and narrowing down important themes to explore was key to guiding my sketching. From there, I went down many paths that could express these themes until I settled on three concepts that were strong enough to move forward with.

Focusing my research on key themes was crucial to guiding my sketching process. From there, I experimented with different logo styles and explored various directions that could express these themes until I settled on three concepts that were strong enough to move forward with.

Refining Conpcepts

The next step was bringing my concepts into Illustrator and vectorizing them. Here I was able to perfect the concepts and explore different typefaces that would bring the logo together.

Illustrator artboard exploring digital concepts

Option 1:

Royalty

The concept of royalty came from Angostura being the only bitters company to be royally appointed. Queen Elizabeth II credited the company as the royal family's official aromatic bitters producer. This gave Angostura a sense of presitge and high regard.

Option 2:

Modern

For a modern concept, I wanted to keep the design minimal. As a permanent staple in the food and cocktail industry, the "A" structurally signifies a strong foundation and durability to last, much like the company itself.

Option 3:

Cultural

In Trinidad & Tobago there is a large national pride around Angostura. From cultural cuisines prepared with the bitters, to medicinal uses, the Trinidadian people are very proud. By incorporating the national bird, the Scarlet Ibis, the new logo was able to pay homage to the culture of Trinidad & Tobago.

The Final

For the final design, Through the creative process I was able to design a logo that incorporated these important themes and characteristics in order to produce a timeless, yet modernized redesign sprinkled with cultural significance that elevates the company's brand.