Responses by Mark Bain, design director, Base Design.

Background: In a market split between easy-drinking lagers and overdesigned craft imports, Rooster Beers stood for something new—Vietnam’s first classic beer brand with a craft soul. Formerly Phat Rooster Ales, the brewery wanted to ditch its expat image and become a name locals could actually drink to: straightforward, funny and proud. In Vietnam, beer isn’t just a drink; it is culture, conversation and community.

Design thinking: We cut the “Phat,” kept the rooster and turned it into a national bird. Rooster Beers became an unapologetically local brand: loud, bright and instantly recognizable. Red and mustard yellow borrowed from everyday Saigon: delivery bikes, street signs and bia hơi (“cold beer”) joints. The design speaks fluent Vietnamese: from the cry of “BIA GÀ Ò Ó O!!!” (“Cock-a-doodle-doo!”) on coasters to the Rooster Delivery Team in matching workwear and bikes. Every touchpoint feels confident and unfiltered, not a craft beer pretending to be global but a Vietnamese beer proud to be local.

Challenges: Rather than simply rebrand, we needed to reclaim, to take “craft” out of the air-conditioned bars and put it back on the street. The brand needed to feel familiar but fresh, quality without pretension: A beer you could spot from across the block, laugh with and bring home. Something made here, for here.

Visual influences: With an intention to make the brand feel more local, we looked into design references that are typical and prevalent throughout the broader community, not just within the food and beverage market. Throughout Vietnam, brandmarks typically include an arched logotype that encompasses an icon or symbol. Such a device is commonly seen used by anything from local bánh mì shops to construction and trucking companies. Because of this, we took a cheeky liberty in employing this type of brandmark as the main symbol for Rooster Beers, consisting of a bold logotype and a central rooster.

Specific project demands: From the outset, the client was interested in a simple, straightforward solution that focused on presenting the product—a line of beers—in the clearest and most basic way possible. This led to a design strategy driven by the need to avoid any unnecessary stylized or decorative elements, focusing instead on a “normcore” approach that was inviting and accessible to a wider audience.

Favorite details: The defining aspect of the project was the range of beer cans produced by Ball, a world-class aluminum manufacturing company. The results were perfect, ultimately leading to a product that embodied the classic spirit of the brand.

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