The Birkett Mills
With over 200 years of milling experience, The Birkett Mills had a compelling story to tell–but their branding and messaging was put together piecemeal over the years without a cohesive vision. The company held several retail brands in their portfolio that had been acquired over the years but had no retail presence under The Birkett Mills brand. Wanting to bring their unique story and expertise to a broader market, they looked to Works to overhaul the brand and to ready it for the next 200 years.
We encouraged them to look at their brand holistically, thoroughly thinking through a brand strategy and mapping out the future. This ensures that going forward, each touchpoint feels cohesive and part of the same family. We began by studying The Birkett Mills deep archives, which helped the design team determine what elements were key in incorporating within the brand. While their existing logo had many elements that were critical to their story, it was far too detailed to have any flexibility of use. In addition, the mark lacked any stylistic direction that would instill a sense of authenticity for a heritage brand.
Together, the team and the client agreed to explore four key areas for the primary brand mark: founding date; location; the mill itself; and a reference to buckwheat, which is their core product. Within our concept phase, we always like to show clients how we envision a logo coming to life. We provided inspiration, colors, fonts, and sample collateral materials within each concept.
After a few rounds of revisions, we landed here. In addition to the logo, custom illustration, and color palette, we also provided the client with the secondary and tertiary brand assets that could be used in other places. Again, the main goal behind this brand refresh was to showcase their history while also demonstrating what makes them unique as a company. This cannot all be done in a single logo, but it can be done through consistent brand assets and well-executed copy and packaging. Together, these are the elements that communicate the brand’s rich history.
