Saint Leonards

Steel brewing tanks in an industrial brewery with the logo 'Saint Leonards Brewing Co' overlaid.

Frothy good times for the local legends.
—

Brand design & illustration for Saint Leonards

The Saint Leonards boys came to us at the start of their brand journey, when they were still brewing beers out of the garage at their St Leonards Road flat. That street name became a name-name, and they needed a matching visual brand, worthy of the quality of their beer.

A pint glass filled with beer on a wooden table, with the logo 'Saint Leonards Brewing Co' on the glass.
Black and white illustration of two hands chained together with broken chain links, with rays emanating from their fingertips, symbolizing freedom or power.

In the early days, there was a strong commitment to making Belgian-style beers, so our starting point for the logo was Plantin (Belgium’s most notable typographic export).

It of itself wasn’t the right fit for us, so instead we designed a wordmark liberally based-off it—more condensed, with spikier serifs and lower contrast. In a way, this is the dry-hopped version.

Close-up of a black fabric with white printed text reading 'Saint Leonards Brewing Co'.
Logo for Saint Leonard Brewing Company

Primary
Logo

Logo for Saint Leonards Brewing Co, featuring black and white text.

Horizontal
Logo

Black and white logo with the words 'Saint Leonard's Brewing Co.'

Alternate
Logo

Exterior view of Saint Leonards Brewing Co restaurant with black exterior, large windows, and outdoor seating area with plants, located on a street with cars passing by.

We took the lettering from the wordmark and then cut an entire face from it. It deviates from the original source—having a much taller x-height, a vertical stress axis, and that iconic Plantin ‘P’ is nowhere to be found. The type gives the team a distinctive asset that has proven to be quite useful in their beer garden, and in their comms.

Sample of a custom serif typeface alphabet with uppercase, lowercase, and numbers on a black background.
Close-up of a black sign with large white numbers '394' on an outdoor building or structure.
Text on a brown background that reads: "Brewing quality beer requires a complex mix of hops, malt, yeast, water, and of course a little crazy experimentation."
Label for Raspberry Grisette beer with 5.7% alcohol by volume from Saint Leonards Brewing Co.
List of beer styles written in white over a background of plants and flowers.

In creating merch, and bringing the brand further to life, we tapped into a bit of history. 

The original Saint Leonard was a French monk (which is close enough to Belgium), and he famously is the patron saint of prisoners. With this connection, we created a motif of praying hands breaking chains.

A black and white graphic of a praying hands with a chain around the wrist, surrounded by the words 'SAINT LEONARDS'

And then we have the much-loved ‘Lemmy,’ who has a more tenuous tie, but does enjoy the beer.

A cartoon skeleton in a hood holding a glass of beer on a black background.
Person wearing a black t-shirt with a graphic of a praying hands with light rays behind it, the words 'Saint Leonard's' and 'Break Free' on the back, standing in front of a brown wall with beer taps.
Design featuring two praying hands with rays emanating, surrounded by the text 'Saint Leonards' curved above, and the words 'Break Free' below, connected by a broken chain.
Black T-shirt with white graphic and text reading 'Saint Leonards', 'Break Free', 'Est. 2020', 'Independently Owned & Operated', featuring a skeleton with long hair holding a wine glass.
Two glasses of beer on a wooden table, with a small vase holding flowers behind them, at an outdoor setting during dusk. Overlaid text reads 'EST. 2020 Saint Leonards Brewing Co.'
Sign pointing to the right labeled 'Beer Garden'
Logo for Saint Leonard Lard's featuring a skeleton with long hair holding a glass of beer, with text 'Break Free,' 'EST. 2020,' and 'Independently Owned & Operated' on a black background.
A wooden sign that reads 'DUTY MANAGER' with handwritten text in yellow below it, and some colorful drawings and scribbles around.
A sign for Saint Leonards on the side of a building with a tree in front, and a sky with clouds during sunset in the background.

Likely Suspects:
Josh O’Neill

Collaborators:
Photography by Michael Braid

Visit Saint Leonards’ website