10 Barrel challenged us to push their brand image in environments even more than before to reinforce & excite people about their basic mission; brew beer, drink beer and have fun while doing it.
As this was 10 Barrel’s first time attending GABF as a sponsored exhibitor, making a huge impact was essential for them. Our directives were to create a creative draft system that included a place for a changeable list of 8 beers on tap, accommodate 4 people inside a 10’ x 10’ area yet devise an impactful front serving space that would draw people to the booth while delivering the essence of 10 Barrel—outdoorsy, the culture from Bend, OR, amazing and fun. Oh, and avoiding any cliché beer industry visuals.
10 Barrel has a straight-forward, simple, unpretentious and slightly quirky brand image, keeping their color palette to black & white, with hints of blue and touches of natural wood, in order to let the focus be on the beer itself.
We designed a custom chairlift as a front counter, and a custom back wall made of skis to house their taps. Final subtle details to reinforce the concept included back wall storage cabinets CNC’d to emulate a snow out-of-bounds fence pattern and out-of-bounds stake poles with beer directives and beer signage that mimicked trail signs.
Functional details included hidden storage in the wall, stainless drip trays under the taps with an overflow catching system hidden underneath to prevent spills on the floor and a functional concealed tap system in the back wall area.
The final result was a booth that had people talking, willing to wait in a long lift line to grab their seat, er, brew, and an overall feeling of a powder day with ear-to-ear grins.