The Brookvale Arts District- 'BAD' to its friends is a pocket of Sydney's Northern Beaches that happens to be home to a genuinely impressive collection of breweries and distilleries. The brief was to create an infographic map that did justice to all of it: the venues, the craft beer, the character, and the very particular kind of person who takes their hops seriously.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Craft beer culture has its own aesthetic language - tactile, a little grungy, full of personality. The map needed to feel at home in that world while actually being useful. Nobody wants to miss a brewery because the map was too pretty to read.

THE APPROACH
A hand-painted watercolour wash forms the background, giving the whole thing a tactile, made-by-human quality that feels right at home in a world of craft and small batch brewing. Illustrated characters bring warmth and humour to what could easily have been a dry wayfinding exercise, and a bottle cap logo felt like a natural fit for a district built around craft brewing.

The result is a folded infographic map that tells you exactly what you’re in for before you walk through the door, with each brewery and distillery detailed with the style of beer or spirit brewed there so you can plan your route with appropriate levels of enthusiasm. Illustrated, characterful, and very much made for males aged 18 to 60. With or without the beard.