La Bassa is a ‘real lager’ that stands apart from the rest of Brewfist portfolio not only visually, but also because it’s an everyday beer, opposed to the more complex and hop-forward brews the brewery has become famous for.

A few years ago, back in 2015, Brewfist challenged ByVolume to design the packaging for a standalone bottled beer destined to the export market that could visually communicate their ‘italianness’ away from stereotypes and old clichés. Our answer was to create an old fictional cover of the popular sports newspaper Gazzetta Dello Sport, carrying its visual language, layout, vintage typography and the iconic pink colour. The sport making the headline could be nothing but cycling, with the name La Bassa referencing both the brewery’s local area and the in-the-drops climbing style made famous by cycling hero Marco Pantani. We wrote the copy for a short paragraph explaining the product’s philosophy and reason why, laid out as a column of a newspaper. The illustration style draws inspiration from the Italian futurist art movement and its praise of speed and dynamics, while the custom lettering and typography creates a strong link to the past.

The beer and label proved so popular that today La Bassa is also available in cans of 500ml. We kept the original illustration and concept and adapted them to the new format. Since the most common can formats for craft beer are 330/440ml, we wanted to emphasise this bold choice. We created the tagline #mezzolitro (half a litre!) to signify the uncommon size of the can and placed it on the neck of the can alongside the brewery’s old slogan “more beer more people”. The aluminium can is finished with an all-over matt varnish.

La Bassa visual identity is iconic but extends far beyond the packaging, opening the possibility of creating an entire brand world. It goes past the stereotypes and aims at making craft beer more accessible and inclusive, aligning with Brewfist mission that is encapsulated in their tagline: More Beer More People.