Ben Cumhaill (pronounced ‘Ben Cool’) is a new micro-distillery launching in Dumfries and Galloway, founded by husband and wife team Jeff and Jess Simpson.

When Jeff and Jess got in touch with their vision for the distillery, I was super excited to be a part of establishing their brand identity.

They were inspired by the legend of the Giant’s Causeway - with the distillery name formed from the Scottish giant Benandonner, and the Irish giant Fionn Mac Cumhaill. With Jeff of Scottish heritage and Jess of Irish (plus the admission they have the odd clash themselves!), the story resonated and forms the basis of their brand story, as well as their approach to distilling whisky.

The distillery will predominantly produce triple distilled, single malt, single cask whisky drawing from both Scottish and Irish processes. In addition, they also plan to distill other small batch spirits such as gin and vodka, so it was important the distillery logo and overall branding was versatile and allowed for this expansion.

With a relatively open brief, we explored a variety of logo concepts with different styles of typefaces - ranging from the more traditional, through to modern and minimalist. Once a creative direction was agreed, the main logo was finalised - a bold, modern wordmark. In addition, I was keen to include a version of the logo that had a visual element, and linked back to the Causeway and the legend itself. Depicting a wave crashing into the iconic hexagonal basalt columns, the accompanying logomark supports the main wordmark across a variety of brand touchpoints.

The wider branding sought to move away from Scottish distillery cliches, with a more vibrant colour palette and modern brand typography.

I look forward to continuing my design support throughout Jeff and Jess’ journey, and their upcoming launch!

Follow Ben Cumhaill’s progress in their online blog at: bencumhaill.co.uk.