Brief

Tilting Ale, the exclusive ale only available on Virgin Trains was delisted in 2018. After huge feedback from customers they decided to bring it back – with fresh new packaging and positioning as one of their halo product ranges in Food and Beverages.

Although Virgin Trains wanted to keep the trademarked name, the existing label was dated and underwhelming. It lacked stand out on the shelf and didn’t do the product justice. As well as re-designing a label which reflected the Virgin Trains brand values, the bottle had to stand out against competitor ales such as Brewdog’s Punk IPA and Camden Pale Ale.

Virgin Trains wanted a beer label to look more ‘Virgin’ and own-able to the brand with a story to tell and at the same time be adaptable for the new franchise take over.

Brief

Tilting Ale, the exclusive ale only available on Virgin Trains was delisted in 2018. After huge feedback from customers they decided to bring it back – with fresh new packaging and positioning as one of their halo product ranges in Food and Beverages.

Although Virgin Trains wanted to keep the trademarked name, the existing label was dated and underwhelming. It lacked stand out on the shelf and didn’t do the product justice. As well as re-designing a label which reflected the Virgin Trains brand values, the bottle had to stand out against competitor ales such as Brewdog’s Punk IPA and Camden Pale Ale.

Virgin Trains wanted a beer label to look more ‘Virgin’ and own-able to the brand with a story to tell and at the same time be adaptable for the new franchise take over.

As product names go, Tilting Ale is super playful and the name itself gave us an idea to experiment visually with the theme. I considered angular typography, Escher-esque illustrations, disproportionate themed imagery and optical illusions where straight lines appear angled. But it was the literal idea of getting my sleeves rolled up and my hands messy by tilting surfaces and covering beer bottles, lids (and eventually ourselves) in paint and ink to see what marks could be made that excited myself and the client most.

As product names go, Tilting Ale is super playful and the name itself gave us an idea to experiment visually with the theme. We considered angular typography, Escher-esque illustrations, disproportionate themed imagery and optical illusions where straight lines appear angled. But it was the literal idea of getting our sleeves rolled up and our hands messy by tilting surfaces and covering beer bottles, lids (and eventually ourselves) in paint and ink to see what marks could be made that excited us and the client most.

As product names go, Tilting Ale is super playful and the name itself gave us an idea to experiment visually with the theme. We considered angular typography, Escher-esque illustrations, disproportionate themed imagery and optical illusions where straight lines appear angled. But it was the literal idea of getting our sleeves rolled up and our hands messy by tilting surfaces and covering beer bottles, lids (and eventually ourselves) in paint and ink to see what marks could be made that excited us and the client most.

The Result

After many experiments later, we opted for a textural ‘spill’ which made a perfectly unique and bold mono background with foil flashes of Virgin red for our new label 

The icing on the full bodied hop-filled cake was positioning the bottle at a 13 degree angle. An exact match the angle of the train when it is at full tilt. Crafty.

What we created was an energetic, on-trend stand out label that is relevant to the target audience, as well as being easily adapted for the new franchise Avanti West Coast’s new brand identity when it takes over from Virgin Trains.