Ballyhoo: Life's a Circus, Enjoy the Show
Happy IPA Day!
Strangely, IPA day is the first Thursday in August, and not the 1st of August. I wonder why, and really, I don’t care why. Just another day, like avocado day yesterday, to suggest one’s consumption habits. When’s “eat your vegetables day” day? It’s June 17, I just looked it up.
But I digress.
Most people that know me eventually find out about my circus heritage. I’ve always played with it as a comedy prop. Timed correctly, saying “well, that’s because I’m circus folk” has always caused sideways looks, shocked faces, and the very occasional smile. And usually the response I get is “well, that explains a lot”. It’s all good, as this has been a running personal joke that our family sees as more hilarious than it really is, regardless of reaction. “There’s a fine line, between stupid…. and clever”. Truer words have never been spoken.
It took time to decide on our branding. I thought about circus-y stuff early on, but I didn’t want to infringe on Joyride Brewing and their elephant, and I was VERY concerned if we use it improperly, it would wind up looking gimmicky like Casa Bonita. (Here’s a funny PG-13 article if you don’t know about it.) But associates we’ve interacted with in the last year of this brewery journey responded positively to the story. Pieces started fitting together. The spectacle and excitement of the circus and what it meant to people 100 years ago. The family pictures I see, of the community the circus built. Not just performers, but the huge amount of support staff behind it. I see the connection within modern day, coming from a marching band past (don’t judge). Suddenly, I realized if done tastefully, this is the framework to tell our family’s story, and the story of the brewery.
And here we are. The awesome people at 88 Design Group were able to capture our thoughts perfectly within the logos. The transformation of our website and social media will roll out over the coming days as I update logos, fonts, etc. If you were watching, you might have noticed sections of website started to disappear over the past weeks. Well, it’s because I’m retooling. It’s starts with A Circus Story, which is now live, featuring pictures I scanned from a photo album created in 1922 and 1923. These pages were labeled in calligraphy. I can’t imagine the labor it took to create these albums back in the day. It’s terrifying to touch, let alone scan. But there they are, my Grandparents and Great Grandparents.
This will be the last time you’ll get a long email; I promise. I’ll be switching to a cooler looking email template with quick hits of information, better suited for announcing new beer releases, events, etc. You’ll see that next month. Or sooner, I’ll probably want to put it through some testing. It will have a link to blog posts in case you really want to read my lengthy meandering notes and pop culture references, such as this one. I will call it something other than a blog, as I’ve been harassed by my children that I should dye my hair purple and wear a beanie to complete the angsty-emo blogger theme. Where’s the love?
And Happy Birthday, Colorado.
Cheers!
-Jeff
August 1, 2019
Written while drinking a Furious by Surly Brewing.