Our goal with Fìrinn was simple: to create a modern whisky brand targeted towards young men that champions traditional masculinity.
During our research we found that a huge proportion of young men feel disenfranchised, lost and confused with their role in society. We wanted to craft a brand to address these emotions, acting as a guide and fatherly figure.
This was such a rewarding project to work on that required an agile approach, going back and forth to ensure precision and consistency. We knew that there would be a lot of potential implications politically by discussing masculinity, especially for an alcohol brand, so it was key for us to communicate that the intentions of the brand were pure. Think "Dove" but the male equivalent and with more of a Sage personality.
As with all of our tasty branding work, we always start with a stylescape. This type of moodboard gives a birds eye view of the brand's look and feel, aligning us with the client and setting the table for the rest of the visual identity.
We always try to think outside the box in everything we do. The unique packaging design and logomark are centred around imagery of a bear, portrayed as both powerful and caring. Fìrinn's target audience is young men who feel lost in today's society and are in need of guidance. We wanted to empower and inspire them to be their strongest selves through the visual identity. The logomark is a silhouette of a baby bear looking up at his father for guidance and protection.
When communicating a powerful purpose like Fìrinn's, we knew it would be important to strategise campaigns that would surely turn heads and encourage a productive dialogue. With the word "Fìrinn" meaning "Truth" in Gaelic, we played on this idea with the true or false checkbox.
One of the things we spend the most time on when building brands is research. If we can truly understand the audience we're talking to, we know that every design, campaign and communication can be strategically crafted to represent them (or who they want to be) and resonate with them on a deeper level. Making our client's customers feel understood is always a top priority. It gives the business purpose beyond making money, scaling the business much faster and in the most ethical way.
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