An item was added to your favourites
Confident. Stoic, Proud. Ol’Bastards is a new range of men’s grooming products, developed for a fashion-inspired lifestyle market.
Every great product starts with both a passion and purpose. In 2015, brothers and salon co-owners Danny and Matthew Semrany were frustrated with the quality of products available on the market. Spotting a gap, they sought to produce a quality alternative, recognising the power and competitive advantage of clear brand positioning.
Appealing to modern men who value elegance and social influence, the Ol’Bastards brand has been patiently developed on a foundation of style, confidence and quality.
Early in the business development journey, The Distillery were approached to offer strategic advice and creative services across a full spectrum of touch points including brand positioning, logo development, product and packaging design, digital marketing, visual merchandising, and client on-boarding.
Risky move to name your brand ‘Ol’Bastards’? Is success necessarily the safest road taken? Undertaken through a series of workshops, Danny, Matt and The Distillery evaluated the pros and cons of positioning with a strong, bold attitude. Stand for something real. Share passion with class and respect. The value of being true was deemed of highest importance.
So what is an Ol’Bastard? He’s confident, stoic and proud. The visual language of the Ol’Bastards brand would walk the line of style and confidence; The quality of product would do the rest.
To establish a signature visual identity, a highly embellished Ol’Bastards word mark was developed. Inspired by vintage medicine apothecary packaging, a modern tongue-in-cheek tone was developed in visual and verbal language. Logo and monogram variations offer flexibility in a variety of digital, packaging and print forms.
The word mark was implemented throughout the range’s different packages, with a heavy use of ornament and flourish. Finishes of foil and metallic inks are utilised throughout the packaging and stationery to contrast the tongue in cheek brand name, and to emphasise the brand’s attention to detail and luxurious qualities appealing to an individual with attitude. The brand was also implemented throughout a range of marketing material, art directed photo shoots and launch event collateral.
A responsive website was also designed and developed by The Distillery, including a CMS and e-commerce capability. The website was designed with two main purposes; to be the home for online sales of the Ol’ Bastards product range, and to generate interest for potential stockist. To achieve this whilst reflecting the attitude of the Ol’ Bastards brand a focus was placed on championing imagery and product photography on contrasting dark tones.
The client had also expressed a need for visual merchandising. As such, a custom product stand was developed to reflect the brand’s modern edge. Initially prototyped through laser-cutting, the final stand was finished with a sleek black varnish, as to emphasise the sophistication of the brand guidelines. To further extend their brand through visual merchandising, a stockist box was also developed. Once again, a black varnish is used to tie the product to the visual identity of the brand. The overall goal of the box is to emphasise the brand’s position as a stylish, sleek, and high-quality go-to for stockists.
Learn more about Ol’Bastards Men’s Grooming products;