Chai Kunpeng’s identity for Quadraft Brewing brings rigour and roughness to the organic beer scene

Bringing a rigour and roughness to the organic beer scene, Chai Kunpeng’s identity for fermented ale brand Quadraft Brewing embraces the rugged context and innate vitality of its ingredients – from mint, mushrooms and moss to root celery, cantaloupe and yellow peach – each relating to a specific animal that feeds on it. Achieved through a candid approach to typography and illustration, the 22 animals referenced throughout the identity, packaging and label design appear minimally, yet recognisably, as silhouettes. “I like to look for the most attractive details of each animal in its illustration,” the Beijing-based creative tells us, “the silhouette itself is direct, clear and pure enough.” Pairing the stark animalistic avatars with a single, hero typeface: Helvetica Now from Monotype.

Contextualising the choice of typeface, Kunpeng explains that “Quadraft’s ale is brewed in rural places, where there is no pollution, no industrial traces, no pesticides and herbicides,” looking to express the brewery’s return to nature. “In the design, I tried to find a natural, wild and rough visual language to express this,” he continues, “as such, I wanted the text to be just a text,” turning to a default, standardised aesthetic to provide a striking contrast. “It doesn’t take away from the animals in their visual relationship,” Kunpeng suggests, “but when they are put together, it is a visual language with great tension and even a lot of imagination.”

The visual language’s pursuit of contrast finds other stark revelries in its monochromatic colour palette, bringing a high level of contrast whilst also corresponding to the brand’s brewing methods. “The black design on its white background responds to the search for nature,” he continues, “and returns to the extreme state of nature,” reflecting as much through the choice of kraft paper. “The kraft paper is rough, rich in feel, white and warm,” Kunpeng concludes, “but the next series will be in colour, to feel more vivid and natural.”

Chai Kunpeng