Responses by Peter Ladd, creative director, Pendo.
Background: The purpose of this project was to develop a distinctive visual identity for ginger beer brand Dickie’s Ginger that translated its playful, unconventional personality into a cohesive brand experience. Because the craft beverage market is crowded with legacy soft drinks, functional beverages, kombucha and non-alcoholic cocktails, our redesign focused on creating a memorable identity that would differentiate the brand both online and on shelf. The primary audience included health-conscious consumers, non-alcoholic beverage drinkers and soft drink enthusiasts seeking an alternative that didn’t take itself too seriously.
Design core: The solution was guided by customer feedback, which consistently highlighted Dickie’s greatest strengths as authenticity, bold flavor and a brand personality that didn't take itself too seriously. Rather than compete by adopting the polished conventions of the category, our strategy was to amplify the qualities that made the brand distinctive—its local roots, small-batch production and irreverent character. The brand was designed to celebrate these attributes while reinforcing the craftsmanship and quality that had earned the brand a loyal following.
Challenges: Creating a visual identity that preserved the brand’s handmade character while remaining practical for production at scale. The solution emerged through experimentation with the brand’s hero ingredient—ginger—resulting in abstract, hand-cut forms that captured its playful personality and became the foundation of the identity. These evolved into the Ginger Family, a flexible visual system that could be applied consistently across packaging, merchandise and other brand touchpoints.
Favorite details: The character development is something we are most proud of, as this wasn’t planned but something that came to us through experimentation and having fun. It also set up a platform to which we could add, taking really odd shapes of ginger and turning them into more family members.
New lessons: This project reminded us that sometimes you can start without a computer or a pen and actually make things with your hands. We started by going to the grocery store, buying ginger, and then cutting it up, scanning it and tracing it. Having fun kept us going.
Visual influences: We were really inspired by all the DIY creative out there: posters for raves, punk shows, the type, color and illustration styles. This inspired the creative and helped us keep things DIY, not perfect and not too polished. As designers, that’s hard to do!
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