Brown-Forman
Back on Whiskey Row
Experience design for Old Forester Distillery
Experiential · Environmental graphics · Brand storytelling | Role: 2D Designer at Imagination | 2018
Old Forester was the first bottled bourbon in America and one of the few brands to survive Prohibition.
When Brown-Forman invested $45 million to bring it back to Louisville’s historic Whiskey Row, the challenge was equal parts brand storytelling and architectural ambition: create a home worthy of a true original, built for the next century of bourbon making.
Challenge
Louisville, Kentucky’s Whiskey Row is home to the biggest names in bourbon. Old Forester’s return to the neighborhood where it all began needed to establish the brand’s place in history while positioning it for a new generation of fans and a fast-growing market.
The brief called for something unprecedented: a fully functioning distillery, from fermentation to bottling, all under one roof, doubling as a flagship visitor experience.
Approach
As part of Imagination’s agency team, I contributed to the brand identity and end-to-end experience design for the facility, developing environmental graphics and brand storytelling that translated Old Forester’s heritage into a physical space visitors could move through, feel, and remember.
The design had to honor the weight of the brand’s history without becoming a museum. The result was a space that told Old Forester’s story, from its origins as America’s first bottled bourbon through the Prohibition years and into its present, while remaining an active, working distillery. Every surface and detail presented an opportunity to deepen the brand narrative.
Outcomes
9% increase in gross profit
Named among USA Today’s Top 10 new attractions, 2018
Old Forester Distillery was named one of USA Today’s ten best new attractions of the year. For the brand, the facility delivered on both fronts: a 9% increase in gross profit and a flagship experience that introduced Old Forester to a new generation of bourbon fans while cementing its legacy on Whiskey Row.
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