Rebrand and Packaging Design System
Stroh's:
Beer for boom, bust, and revival
Stroh’s Brewery Company is a cult favorite in our beautiful, dynamic, complicated city. Working closely with Pabst Brewing and the Stroh’s team, we crafted a deeply contextualized brand guide for our beloved local brew. Our strategy focused on revitalizing Stroh’s sense of place and relevance to a new generation of beer lovers in the Motor City and beyond.
Then and now
Historical images inspired our team at every turn. Stroh’s was founded in Detroit in 1850 and enjoyed by the city’s working class for over a century—so there was no shortage of source material. Coupled with contemporary shots, these images showcase Stroh’s and Detroit’s deeply intertwined narratives.
Stroh’s offers an affordable, quintessential hometown beer for a community hard at work.
Strength of a lion
The heraldic crest, Stroh’s most enduring asset, has been with the brand since the very beginning. We also proposed a streamlined script and introduced new typography that balanced new and old.
For proof of concept, we developed sample packaging and can designs that reimagined the brand’s hierarchy of design elements. Art by a Detroit painter added authentic color, texture, and an additional sense of place.
The results
We created a beautiful brand book for Pabst Brewing Co.’s internal team. The Stroh’s brand is now poised for growth within Pabst’s extensive portfolio of heritage brands.
Skidmore's Detroit-centric strategy and design expertise shaped our path forward.
—Andy Gurjian, Brand Manager
