Julian Cider Mill Co.

With decades as a boutique provider of unique snacks and food products, Julian Cider Mill Co. needs a brand that reflected its place in history for the region.

Both concepts borrow from classical and western themes but avoid being boisterously loud, despite the long name. The first variant uses illustration to pull together themes of apples and honey. The second variant features a diagonal western type that puts the reader in motion while relying solely on type style to deliver the feeling of the history.

Pulling from the first days of the store, secondary visuals for the brand were developed around the first products they ever sold in 1975 – Apple Cider & Honey.

Ideas explored in sketch included combinations of bee hives and fruiting apple trees. The illustration process brought us to an interesting surrealist representation of a hypothetical drink called Apple Nectar. Deriving its identity directly from the brand’s history with apples and honey, Apple Nectar had a strong chance of being a flagship on Julian Cider Mill’s featured shelf.