Project Brief
Husband-and-wife team Ataç and Akgonca Besi left behind the Istanbul hustle in 2009 to establish their family-owned small batch brewery in Yesilyurt village. Inspired by craft brews around the world, Gara Guzu, or ‘kara kuzu’, means black sheep. It sounds different, pronounced with a Mugla accent. It’s born different, a pioneering Turkish local that offers the world a rebel spirit alongside local handmade quality, all natural ingredients and flavor.
The brand’s logo design has a prize by the Turkish Graphic Designers Community (GMK).
Challange:
Being a fan of the brand and its products (Blonde ale being my favorite), I was familiar with the attitude and sincerity of the owners already. They have a language I am familiar with; being the “Black Sheep” of the hird. I was first asked to design beer mats for the brand. I was so happy to find out that the two colors I chose (Flourescant green and orange) were the couple’s favorite colors; we warmed up very fast to work together.
The brand had already had 5 beers produced, all having an identical language of their own; and the new Porter Beer should have a similar language with its brothers and sisters; also having it’s unique name and look.
Idea:
First round of ideas were mainly focused around Latin names; “Amor Nigrum” was Ataç’s choice of naming. However, because of the regulations in Turkey; we had to come up with a name and a visual supporting the name; which shouldn’t include or refer to any incentive meaning (Amor being Love).
We ended up with the continuity of the Aegean dialect, “GARA” (KARA) meaning “BLACK” already, which fit the product and the brand totally.
You can see the sketches of the Amor Nigrum and the final version of the label as “GARA” with some CGI renders I used in the process.
Logo Design: Burcu Kayalar / Katalist
Bottle label design: Tolga Görgün
Branding Materials: Tolga Görgün
