Ninkasi Brewing Company Brand Design & Better Living Room

Ninkasi's Better Living Room is more than a bar or a restaurant.

It’s a Eugene community hub representing the heart and spirit of Oregon’s pioneering craft beer scene. The mission of the space is captured in the name: a place as familiar and inviting as your living room, designed to spark nostalgia at every turn.

Branding

BLR wanted branding that represented a vintage living room aesthetic but also incorporated the industrial nature of the brewery and the metalwork that would be a key element in the interior design. Harnessing lightning, blackletter typography, and a cozy lamp as quintessential living room imagery, Better Living Room came together with a vintage-inspired color palette. We had so much fun with the conceptualization of this project and love how the branding and architecture design came together to speak a common language.

“Ninkasi came to us to brand a new venture at their Eugene, Oregon brewery so we HOPped right on it! Influenced by a combination of vintage decor and metal music, Better Living Room came to life as a big, bright, and bold brand.”

Tory Cunningham

Senior Designer

Ninkasi Brewing Company's Better Living Room crowler can design featuring vintage living room elements, blackletter typography, and a vibrant teal color palette, inspired by the brewery's unique branding and community-focused space.

Packaging

Utilizing crowlers (32 oz cans that breweries use for takeaway beer), we designed a fun, living room-inspired can for patrons to take their new favorite beers straight from the tap to their homes. Many of the furniture pieces on the can are inspired by pieces within the Better Living Room space itself.

Industrial brewery bar featuring vintage-inspired wallpaper with colorful circular patterns, beer taps, and a cozy ambiance reflecting the Better Living Room branding by Ninkasi Brewing Company.

Patterns & Wallpaper

We were able to apply the brand across a variety of mediums, including wallpaper, a vestibule enhancement, a kid’s wall, and collateral for both internal and external company use.

“Better Living Room is rooted in music and community, so we wanted to bring that same vibrant energy to their custom wallpaper. Abstracted beer cans, Victorian patterns, and retro living room accents all served as an inspiration to give an eclectic, yet unified, feel to each of their interior spaces.”

Marc Girouard

Art Director

From the Client

“Murmur was able to read our tea leaves to help us create an experience like no other combining retro style with the vibrancy of Ninkasi’s color palette to explore the comforts of home from the perspective of a neighborhood hangout. The details Murmur brought really help highlight the sense of awe people feel when they walk into the Better Living Room for the first time.”

Jamie Floyd

Founding brewer at Ninkasi

Beverage, food, and kid's menus for Ninkasi Brewing Company, featuring vibrant colors and eclectic design elements reflecting the vintage aesthetic of the Better Living Room.

Menus & Collateral

Menus needed to be loud and eclectic. With images like cuckoo clocks, vintage furniture, and lava lamps, they really jumped off the table! The flexible interior allows BLR could to easily update their ever-changing items and keep their revolving tap up-to-date.

We extended the vintage thrift vibe from the menus to additional branded items. The combination of the electric brand colors and illustrations of classic living room items create a cozy state of mind – where craft quality beer is served.