NEWY CRUSH
NEWCASTLE’S VERY OWN, INSPIRED BY ART OF THE STREET
PROJECT YEAR
2024
UNIVERSITY PROJECT GRADE
HIGH DISTINCTION ( 96 )
PROJECT TYPE
VISUAL IDENTITY DESIGN PACKAGING DESIGN ANIMATION
OVERVIEW
Newy Crush was my first project assignment at the University of Newcastle. Its a Visual Identity Design for a factious beverage brand in Newcastle that follows a very grungy and street style with the inclusion of bright bursts of colours to symbolise street art that bring character to an otherwise boring environment.
CHALLENGE
The challenge was to create a visual identity for this beverage brand. The style had to be inspired by Newcastle's street art scene with the grungy graffiti aspects and bright creative hints. Finding a balance between these styles within the identity and importantly the packaging was key to achieving an effective design solution. Since this beverage contains alcohol, the visual style has to remain bright and cheeky, but not to a degree that it becomes appealing to people under the legal drinking age.
SOLUTION
The primary colours of the visual identity help lean into this intended style with the heavy use of Pale Carmine and Baltic Sea which brings intensity and a bold and energetic aspect to the brand. The brand’s primary logo and logo mark feature custom lettering, inspired by street art tags and streetwear brands, creating once again, another link to its street inspiration. The bold title typeface of Hanson Bold brings energy to this identity with Helvetica for legible subtitles and paragraphs.
The packaging for Newy Crush underwent multiple versions during development, to ensure the best and most appropriate solution was reached. When designing, there were versions featuring different characters in a graffiti style, however I believe that the use of characters on the can would appeal to younger audiences which is not ideal due to the beverage’s inclusion of alcohol. A large logo mark takes place front and center in the final version. Paint marks and rough concrete textures are applied to the design to connect with the brand's newly established identity of street inspired graphics and themes.
