Sibyl Design, Inc. : Web and Graphic Design for Craft Breweries and Distilleries

About Us

We are a full-service web and graphic design agency specializing in brand building and marketing strategies for the craft beer, distilling, spa/salon, and hospitality industries.

“Everywhere we go, we get compliments on our design. Sibyl’s team invested time and effort to deeply understand our brand vision, so each new concept they deliver is on target.”
Ryan McGee, Hi-Fi Brewing

“It would be hard for me to define my brand without the inspiration and influence of Sibyl Design’s services. They have been a major player in my company for years.”
Inez Grey, Habitude Spa & Salon

Our Work

We win awards. We do beautiful design. But most importantly, we listen, understand, problem-solve and help you clearly communicate your message to your audience.

Diamond Knot
More Details
Bigger Image
View Website
Client: Diamond Knot
Web Design
Identity
Brand Standards
Packaging
Email Marketing

Diamond Knot

Hale’s Ales
Bigger Image
Client: Hale’s Ales
Can Design

Hale’s Ales

halescans

Crystal Mountain Hotels
More Details
View Website
Client: Crystal Mountain Hotels
Identity Design
Web Design
Web Development
Collateral

Crystal Mountain Hotels

Sibyl Design has been the single most important component in improving our marketing campaigns at Crystal Mountain Hotels. Every piece of marketing material that they deliver exceeds expectations and is done at rate that you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else. They have been extremely agile in their ability to offer different levels of support to our marketing efforts which is important in managing a small business. In addition, the team has made sure to make themselves available for any last minute crunch problems that have arisen. I would enthusiastically recommend their design services to any business looking to create a stronger and smarter marketing campaign. HILLARY HARRISON, CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN HOTELS

 

Load more projects

Our Services

Whether you’re building your brand from the ground up or trying to get focused and grow, our experience, creativity and passion will help you on your way.

Our Clients

If we wrote a personal ad, it would go something like this: “Fun-loving and talented designers seek meaningful relationships with clients who appreciate creativity, passion and an unending desire to be the very best.” A match made in heaven.

News

Want to know what we’re up to? Well, you came to the right place...and bonus—you can also sign up for our really, really interesting newsletter.

Sep 09 2014

Feels almost as good as jogging…

The results of the 2014 GD USA Health and...

Sep 09 2014 By: Sibyl Perkins

Feels almost as good as jogging…

The results of the 2014 GD USA Health and Wellness Design Awards are in—and Sibyl Design has another win for the logo we designed for Sno-Isle Food Co-op in Everett, WA. Congratulations to our own Tori King and the SDI team!

sno-isle-logo-award

Close
Aug 06 2014

What’s the value of your visual identity?

Identity Crisis Is your visual identity worth investing in?...

Aug 06 2014 By: Sibyl Perkins

What’s the value of your visual identity?

Identity Crisis

Is your visual identity worth investing in? What’s a good first impression worth to you? A first impression is a one-shot deal, but for a lot of businesses, design is an afterthought at best, a pain in the ass at worst. But what about when it’s neglected? You can make the argument that many successful businesses have a minimal marketing budget even less focus on design—you wouldn’t be wrong.

But don’t let that fool you into thinking that a well-designed brand identity doesn’t give you a big boost in the market—because it absolutely does.

Business owners have a million and one things on their plates—budgets to juggle, people to manage—and are constantly working on how to triage everything about growing their company. Logos and other visual elements are only important once they begin to see how well-designed brands can elevate them and effectively make them more money and improve their reputation.

Yes. A good logo, as part of a strong overall brand experience, can add to your bottom line. Even science proves it. Here’s how:

What our brains have to do with it

“Vision trumps all other senses”

Logos, images and color reinforce memory by providing a visual “imprint” for customers—an idea that has been validated by science. Providing visual cues for memory has proven to be vital not only in branding and marketing, but in learning just about anything.

Dr. Paul Martin Lester’s study, “Syntactic Theory of Visual Communication” demonstrated that people only remember 10% of what they hear and 20% of what they read, but about 80% of what they see and do. “Vision trumps all other senses,” according to John Medina, author of “Brain Rules”. He says, “If you hear a piece of information, three days later you’ll remember 10% of it. Add a picture and you’ll remember 65%.”

The consensus among psychologists is that people like what they know. So reinforcing memory with visuals and helping customers create a positive correlation between a logo and a brand can go a long way toward building brand loyalty.

Why is this important? To demonstrate the value of brand names, New York University’s professor of finance Aswath Damodaran, compared companies making similar products: Apple and Dell, Honda and Ferrari, and notably Coca-Cola and Cott, makers of RC Cola. “Soda is water with a bunch of sugar and a lot of crap thrown in,” he said. “You can put whatever you want on the outside of the can, but there is really no difference between a cola and another cola. You may say that Coca-Cola tastes different — that’s what 100 years of playing with your mind does to you,” he stated.

brand

The conclusion? Greater success in the cola business is about brand, not product. Damodaran valued Coca-Cola at $79.6 billion, compared to Cott, which was only $15.4 billion. The difference between the two is a whopping $64.2 billion—a serious brand name premium. If you think about it, that means that only something like 20% of Coca-Cola’s value is the product, while the balance is the equity—the premium price—garnered by their brand name and how it is viewed in the market.

What is a brand?

Your “brand” is what your customer thinks about when she hears your brand name. Brand is reputation. It’s how someone feels when he thinks about your products. Your visual identity is an important trigger to help customers remember and identify with your brand. Milton Glaser, the legendary graphic designer best known for the “I Love New York” logo, says that it has to do with simplicity. “You want to move the viewer in a perception so that when they first look at [the logo]…they get the idea, because that act between seeing and understanding is critical,” he said.

Characteristics of a strong visual identity

While there isn’t a set-in-stone rulebook for what makes the perfect logo or visual identity, there are a few things the best of them have in common. How does yours hold up?

1) Does it convey the right message and differentiate you from your peers? Is it serious when it should be fun, haphazard when it should be polished or does it reach that target perfectly? Use your visual identity to reinforce your brand promise. It needs to harmonize with all of your messaging.

2) Does it convey professionalism and trust? Is it appropriate? Does it make sense to your target audience? Most folks are unlikely to bank with a financial institution called “Fred’s Bank” with a logo of a cartoon dollar sign and a tagline of “Give us your money—we like money!” That’s not exactly trust-inspiring. But parents might like that exact same whimsical approach for a kid’s game for learning about money. Know your market and make sure you’re speaking directly to their needs, wants and concerns.

3) Is it unique and memorable? Does it stand out in the crowd and have impact? This is probably the single biggest element of an effective visual identity. If it’s overly trendy, lacking in conceptual qualities or simply not different enough, nobody will remember it a few minutes after seeing it. Logos that can be remembered are the ones that have wit, character, surprise, or some other kind of “aha moment” that will delight the customer and imprint it in their minds.

4) Is it consistent? When you’re not consistent with your message, customers will be confused about who you are. They will be much less likely to remember you compared to another brand who is consistent.

5) Can it be easily misinterpreted? We’ve seen some doozies of horror stories on this topic. Do you really want your logo to become a Facebook meme? These images should illustrate what I mean:

logofails

6) Is it adaptable and scalable? Overly complex logos become problematic not just because they create brain overload with customers, but also as soon as you need to fax, embroider, or print them in black and white.

8) Is it timeless? A well-designed visual identity is not like a Paris runway model’s dress and should not go out of fashion after a single season. Some of the best logos have remained virtually unchanged for decades.

classics

So ask yourself, what does your brand currently say about your company and is it working hard to earn you that coveted “brand name premium?”

 

Sibyl Perkins serves as Brand Strategist and Chief Cat Herder at Sibyl Design. Sibyl espouses the philosophy that the best ideas come from building brain trusts of great people and cross-pollinating wherever possible. What she knows about design and brand strategy is a lot, and what she doesn’t, she will find out, always asking the right questions along the way. Sibyl has had a strong focus on developing great brands for craft brewers —allowing them to pay attention to the business of brewing quality beer while she brings her expertise to bear, giving them the brand tools needed to build a name and sell their products well. 

Close
May 21 2014

And they just keep coming…

We just won the Silver “M” in The Marketing...

May 21 2014 By: Sibyl Perkins

And they just keep coming…

We just won the Silver “M” in The Marketing Awards for the labels we designed for Narrows Brewing. Congrats to Tori King!

GGGA and GPO-both

Close

Load more posts

“The team at Sibyl Design has accomplished unbelievable things while meeting a fast-paced schedule and staying within budget. I’d be happy to recommend them to anyone.”
Scott Wagner, Narrows Brewing

Sibyl Perkins

Sibyl Perkins

Strategic Director and Boss Lady

About Sibyl
Email Sibyl
LinkedIn
Skype
“I'm the perfect servant. I know when they'll be hungry and the food is ready. I know when they'll be tired and the bed is turned down. I know it before they know it themselves.” ~Mrs. Wilson, Gosford Park
Tori King

Tori King

Graphic Designer and Big Brainiac

About Tori
Email Tori
LinkedIn
Skype
“There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly.” ~Buckminster Fuller
Farrell and Rosa

Farrell and Rosa

Ambassadors of Joyful Dogness

About Farrell and Rosa
Doggie Luv!
“Some of our greatest historical and artistic treasures we place with curators in museums; others we take for walks.” ~Roger A. Caras

Branding

Print Design

Interactive Design

Web Development

  • WordPress
  • E-Commerce
  • Database Design
  • Custom Programming
  • Mobile Apps

Brewery & Distillery

  • Menus
  • Branded Merchandise
  • Tap Handles
  • Growlers and Glassware
  • Packaging | Keg Collars

Our team is a dedicated little band of artists, pixel jockeys, code wranglers and big-brained thinkers. We’re ready to do what it takes to help you reach the right people and get them in your doors.