Australia’s oldest family-owned beer brand Coopers has just completed a mammoth revamp of its Coopers Alehouse in the Adelaide Airport, with its heritage-style, customised signage grabbing all the attention.
Chris Cooper, creative director from Studio Band was set with the task of designing new signage for the Alehouse with a brief of embracing the historical elements of the Coopers brand, which was established in 1862.
“The brand has such an in-depth family history with a lot of archived and beautiful material, so it made sense to approach the signage in a similar way using traditional methods, sign painting, gold-leafing and also in the fabrication of the signs,” Cooper tells Australian Printer.
Adelaide signwriter Signs of the Time was commissioned to produce the structural signage for the Alehouse and the sign painting was completed by renowned Melbourne artist Tristan Kerr.
“General manager Troy Irvine at Signs of the Time used a lot of his subcontractors to come up with the right solutions to develop what is the fabricated structural signage at the venue,” Cooper explains.
Signs of the Time also produced a neon sign with stainless steel hand rolled lettering for the Alehouse. The signage was produced using methods of signage production from sixty years ago as opposed to more contemporary methods.
“That was harder work to do as not a lot of signwriters have the capability these days to produce signage in an old-fashioned way,” Cooper says.
“Kerr had a different process, he referenced imagery from the Coopers historical archives and came back with several concepts and once they were approved were applied to different substrates such as the hand painted mirrored signage.”
Cooper says more clients are now requesting bespoke signage work in a bid to differentiate their brand from competitors.
“Now in signage it is more about authenticity, and authenticity comes from well-made signs with fabrication and production processes that are more hands-on, the outcome being the signage stands out from the rest,” Cooper says.
“Certainly clients have been coming to us requesting signage products with a bespoke approach. They want an outcome that is exclusive to the brand and helps it stand out, by standing out it is penetrating and engaging with an audience.”
Coopers outlayed more than $1m on the upgrade of the Alehouse at the Adelaide Airport with the new design featuring a large open lounge and dining area with views across to the Adelaide Hills.
Coopers sales and marketing director Cam Pearce says, “It has been almost 11 years since we opened the original Coopers Alehouse at the airport and we thought it was time for an update.
‘It is an exciting design and will be a real drawcard for visitors to the airport, those waiting for flights and people waiting to meet passengers.”
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