As Oak Cliff Brewing grew into a full-scale production brewery and taproom, we wanted our identity to reflect our people, our neighborhood, and where we hoped to go. Jeff Rogers, then our neighbor at Tyler Station, helped shape that refresh.
This conversation looks back at the thinking behind it.
01 / Doug asks
Was there anything that you wanted to carry over, in terms of brand identity?
Jeff Rogers
“It seemed like we all enjoyed the vibe that the paintings in the tap room have so I wanted to keep traveling down that path with the new branding. One small thing we kept was the angular sans serif style of "Brewing Co." in the previous logo. We used this style in some of the letters in the taproom and on the exterior of the building. But mostly it was the hand-made quality and variety that I wanted to keep riffing on.”
02 / Doug asks
Talk us through the design process and the moment(s) that the new brand 'clicked' in your head…
Jeff Rogers
“It was very helpful to be so familiar with the brewery before starting the process. It's like the ideal way to start a branding project, just to be SUPER familiar with the organization and what it's all about. In this case it was super helpful to get to know Joel and his vision for the brewery, his deep connection to the neighborhood and the clientele demographic, which is mainly people who live in Oak Cliff. There is a strong neighborhood pride and that is a great story to latch onto when thinking about branding. It is already there. You don't have to try and invent it. My initial thought was that the words "OAK CLIFF" were the brand hero.
It's all about community and this neighborhood. We wanted to establish the brewery as a staple in the neighborhood. It would be great if when people heard the words "Oak Cliff" they thought of the brewery. The neighborhood is so diverse and arts focused, it seemed silly to limit the visual elements of the brand to just a logo. OAK CLIFF can look like anything. The more variety the better. That is the story of this neighborhood and we're tapping into that with the branding.”
03 / Doug asks
How do you see the new brand developing over time? Where do you think it will be in ten or twenty years?
Jeff Rogers
“I would love to see this strategy evolve into the creation of a giant body of visual work that, when seen all together, expresses feelings of community, diversity, collaboration, craft, excellence and most importantly, fun! Also, I just hope the taproom continues to grow more and more into a staple in the community as a space where families can come play games while sitting next to creative people in the community hashing out ideas and making new friends. I personally have met several new people in the brewery which has led to hopefully will someday lead to future collaborations. I love that. I would love to hear phrases like, "it all started with that conversation at oak cliff brewing." I hope that the branding can help to amplify that kind of culture as it evolves.”
04 / Doug asks
Talk us through when the team committed to tethering the entire brand to ‘Oak Cliff’ - was it freeing? Was there some vulnerability with that?
Jeff Rogers
“I think it just made the most sense honestly. It's always better to build off of the foundation of a good idea instead of just trying to make a cool looking thing, you know? That's easy. Anyone can make a cool thing. The idea made sense and the hard part was making visual work that lived up to the idea and did its job, which I think it does pretty well and there is room to continue to evolve and improve as we go.”
05 / Doug asks
How does the new brand better embody OC and what it's all about?
Jeff Rogers
“Leaving room for OAK CLIFF to have an almost unlimited amount of variations allows the brand to express the thing that makes this neighborhood so special: diversity, community and creativity.”
Good beer. A neighborhood worth celebrating.
More about the brewery