One of the original craft beers, Hobgoblin certainly had bags of character and a dedicated fan base — but they were under pressure to revitalise and refresh to appeal to the newer generation of beer drinkers. Our task was to develop a contemporary voice for the brand, giving it relevance in today’s market whilst retaining their history and provenance.
We stripped back the branding to reveal a lighter, more modern feel. The legendary Hobgoblin character is an essential part of the beer brand’s identity, so it was important to keep its mythical associations. Most notably, we injected some attitude into the iconic character. Previously hemmed in by a roundel, the new hand-drawn goblin looks directly at the customer with a cheeky glint of the eye.
We brought all of this together to create a unified and cohesive design system that would stand up to contemporary competitors and connect with consumers across all formats and beer styles. The result is a bold and exciting change for Hobgoblin that is built on timeless foundations.
There was a huge opportunity to create something engaging and unexpected with the design of the bottle caps. We cropped areas of the logo, limiting it to two or three letters per cap. This resulted in Hobgoblin fans collecting the caps to get a full set - even selling the caps on eBay. The design has succeeded in creating a little delight and fuelled social media activity.
*This project was carried out when, Imogen, the founder, was employed by Butcher & Gunderon agency.
