Scéal Ale
Scéal Ale is a side-project of the mighty Skeff Bar and Restaurant in Galway city, Ireland. This is a bespoke craft ale created with help from the Spiddal River Brewery in Connemara. Packed full of flavour and sold exclusively by the Skeff Bar it required an interesting take on the branding to uniquely position it in a busy craft ale market.
So what’s the Scéal? This was one of several brand option presented to the Skeff. Taking my cue from the ales name I looked at the history of story-tellers and story telling in Galway. Sitting in a park outside the the Skeff’s front door is a statue of one of the city’s most famous storytellers and poets – Pádraic Ó Conaire. Using imagery of Pádraic himself and some visual ideas associated with him as a writer with a distinct voice I created a quirky and fun brand with the idea of Irish tall tales at the heart of the delivery. The ale has been a massive success.
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Concept
Creative Direction
Graphic Design
Branding
Meaning
The Scéal Ale logo development went through many iterations and versions. The word ‘Scéal’ means ‘story’ or ‘tale’ in the Irish language. I wanted to focus on the storytelling aspect of the city and sitting round having a pint in a pub. ‘What’s the story?’ or ‘What’s the scéal?’ is a common refrain among friends in Ireland upon meeting.
The poet
The famous statue of famous Galway poet and writer Pádraic Ó Conaire (1882 – 1928) sits in a park outside of the Skeffington Arms. This proved suitable and appropriate inspiration for the final logo. Many Irish student would know his work from his comedic Irish language book ‘M’asal Beag Dubh’ (My little Black Donkey). The image of the black donkey featured heavily in the pre-launch and launch posters.
Pre-launch and launch posters: A series of posters and advertisements based around the phrase ‘What’s the Story?’ were created for a pre-launch and launch campaign to create mystery and generate interest in the new ale.
Beermats: The beermats became sought after and helped to explain the use of the Irish language in the unusually named ale to the many tourists that pass through the doors of the venue.
Conclusion
Scéal Ale was a huge success on launch and continues to be sold to this day. The brand was used as a hook sponsor to hang Irish language events in the venue. Using a Galway city poet hero and iconic presence I created a new distinct voice and quirky, fun brand with the idea of Irish tall tales at the heart of the delivery.