Serving Up a Fresh Brand for NBWA

The National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) engaged NJI to reshape their brand to reflect the innovations in the beer and beverage distribution industry.

NBWA and NJI began the rebrand process with a robust discovery phase. Through this phase, we identified that the new brand needed to be timeless, fun, and forward-focused. These principles became the foundation for the design.

NBWA’s new logo represents its support for beverages of all kinds and the endless potential of the industry. It consists of a wordmark and an iconic beverage hidden in the “B.” The color palette creates a distinct look for NBWA that sets it apart from the homogeneous golds that are dominant in the industry. The primary palette heralds the pride of NBWA’s American legacy, while the secondary palette is made up of warm tones that hint at a pint of beer.

The primary font is inspired by road signage in the United States, and the secondary font is inspired by a crisp, spiked seltzer. To accompany the brand, we created a series of icons and image treatments. The image treatments utilize textures, like effervescent bubbles in a beverage, that can fill up portions of images with color, like a fresh pour in a glass.

Together, this new brand serves up a flexible design for an ever-changing, dynamic industry that is rooted in its past but focused on its future. Cheers!