SomeOne rebrands Chivas whisky with ‘Scottish love token’ and Barnbrook typography

The consultancy began working on the project about 18 months ago following a credentials pitch. It was brought in to create consistency across the Pernod Ricard-owned brand ranges, which are sold in more than 80 different markets worldwide.

The new branding uses a symbol, enabling it to be shown in ‘dark markets’ where marketing alcohol is restricted. The icon-based branding aims to create a ‘new and powerfully ownable way of talking across language barriers’, according to SomeOne, looking to position Chivas as a global, rather than specifically Scottish brand.

 SomeOne co-founder David Law says, ‘It was the classic thing of the brand wanting to change but not to alienate existing customers.’

He adds, ‘We looked through the archive to find existing iconography to give a sense of history.’

The new branding uses a traditional Scottish love token ‘luckenbooth’ icon, inspired by the original distillery gates in Strathisla.

A custom pattern system and colour palette were created, alongside a bespoke typeface by Jonathan Barnbrook. The black and gold colour palette now incorporates the burgundy seen on the 12-year-aged whisky cap to ‘warm it up’, according to Law.

Law says, ‘We wanted to create a brand world that had to be very consistent – even if all we had was the typeface, you would be able to recognise it. We took an existing typeface by [Barnbrook] and smoothed it off, to signify the idea of a blended whisky which is all about marrying different flavours and textures.’

The branding will gradually roll out across all touch-points including international advertising created by Havas Worldwide and the Chivas website, which will debut the new designs in December, according to SomeOne.