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The Challenge
San Diego is one of the most competitive craft beer markets in the United States—so we imagined Bird Rock as a tiny, local brewery trying to stand out in a saturated space.
For this side project, as the brand evolved, so did the business narrative. In our own narrative, Bird Rock expanded from a garage-style micro-brewery to a larger production facility and eventually opened taprooms across San Diego and Orange County. That growth guided each design phase—from small, scrappy beginnings to more sophisticated, scaled execution.
Our Solution
We built a full-stack brand system that could scale with the brewery’s growth.
Deliverables over time have included:
- Custom logo and badge system
- Bold packaging design for cans and bottles
- Taproom signage and spatial branding
- Merch design and swag
- Website design
- Social media campaign concepts
- Motion graphics and brand videos
Each piece was designed to balance authenticity, sophistication, and San Diego’s signature coastal energy.
The Process
Bird Rock was the first project where we built what would eventually become our 5-step brand process. Over six years, the brand evolved through four major creative phases:
- 2019: Initial brand sprint—logo, color, packaging, and merch.
- 2021: Post-pandemic brand refresh—refined system, new touch points.
- 2023: Major brand expansion—packaging, website, taproom concepts, marketing assets.
- 2025: Continued evolution and experimentation.
With each new phase, we pushed further—using Bird Rock to test new skill sets, explore creative concepts, and refine our internal processes for live client engagements.
The Outcome
This was our first and longest-running creative relationship—with ourselves. Bird Rock represents the foundation of what Blue Cyclops has become. It allowed us to sharpen our identity work, expand into web design, and explore creative directions we might never have pursued with real-world constraints. It’s the brand that grew with us—and continues to inspire us.
More Work
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