A Digital Mag for Craft Beer Enthusiasts

Localize the world of craft beer with geocentric content and in-app ordering.

 

Project Overview

01: Challenge

  • Create a digital magazine that provides engaging and interactive content to readers.
  • Provide opportunities for brand partnerships and monetization with the publication.
  • Explore ways to utilize the digital space in order to create a more immersive experience for readers.

02: Approach

  • Evaluated the competitive landscape for craft beer publications.
  • Determined there was an opportunity to create a magazine that fully utilized the digital space and offered unique perspective by weaving storytelling and utility into its content.
  • Conducted one-on-one interviews with our target audience and received input for what they would want from a craft beer magazine.
  • Concepted for strategic positioning and creative ideas for the magazine’s functionality and content.

03: Outcome

  • Created a geocentric magazine for tablet that curates content based on users’ locations and taste preferences.
  • Provided opportunities for brand partnerships through brewery exposés and beer reviews, as well as different ways for users to try the beers by using the app.
  • Created a flexible grid layout that allows designers to build beautiful layouts that are unique, but cohesive within the magazine.

Narrative

Brand Essence

Drinking alcohol is inherently social. Whether at a bar or a barbecue, when people have drinks in their hands, stories are being shared. This is what Coaster & Crafted is all about.

Coaster & Crafted is a geocentric magazine designed for tablet that curates stories about craft beer, and the breweries that made them, based on users’ locations and taste preferences. Core to Coaster & Crafted is the belief that great stories come from craft beer, whether being told by the person drinking the beer, or by the brewer who created it.

Through articles and exposés about the beers, the breweries, and the brewers, Coaster & Crafted acts as a social campfire for craft beer enthusiasts to gather around.

Exclusive to the magazine is how it curates these stories. Based on the user’s location or taste preferences, Coaster & Crafted shows content about craft beers available for purchase in their area. Better still is the ability for readers to try the beer, which is made possible in three different ways.

Through a partnership with Klink, an alcohol delivery service, of-age readers can order the beers they read about without leaving the application and have it delivered to their door.

In addition to home delivery, readers can see what stores nearby sell the beers, pay for them using Klink, and have them waiting for pickup at the front of the store.

Lastly, in order to facilitate more in-person interactions, Coaster & Crafted allows readers to see what bars nearby offer the beers and whether they are bottled or on tap. Readers can then send invites to members of their Coaster & Crafted Beer Clubs and experience the beers together.

With Coaster & Crafted, craft beer enthusiasts can explore the world of craft beer as it grows in their area and share the stories that inspired them.

Publication

 
 
 
 
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Publication Features

Main Navigation

Allows users to easily navigate between sections of the magazine and the types of content.

  • Users swipe right or left on the top of the screen to navigate between the four sections of the magazine: “Crafted for Your Location,” “Crafted for You,” “Beer Club,” and “Klink.”
  • If users are traveling to other cities and want to see what craft beers are available, users tap on the city name in the “Crafted for Location” section. This causes a keyboard to slide up from below the fold, the user enters in the city, and the content is curated accordingly.
  • Articles are cropped in different sizes to signify types of content to the user.

Beer Review

Users can read the backstory behind their favorite beers and ones they want to try. 

  • Coaster & Crafted’s beer reviews are based on four different factors: flavor, palate, aroma, and appearance, with an overall review included.
  • Users can see other users’ reviews beneath the author’s. They are sorted with members of the users’ beer clubs on top, then people they are following, and lastly, the reviews of other Coaster & Crafted users.

Brewery Tours

Fans of particular breweries can read the interactive stories behind how they got started.

  • At any point while users are reading the reviews, a sticky header allows them to tap on: “Try” if they want to buy the brewery’s beers; “Add” if they want to add the beers to the companion application; and “Share” if they want to share the story on their social media channels.
  • The articles feature different types of content, such as audio recordings, video interviews, photos, and copy. All of which is individually shareable.

Grid Design

Allows designers to build beautiful layouts that are unique, but cohesive within the magazine.

  • Designers have a variety of anchor points from which to place content.
  • Creates an aesthetic that Coaster & Crafted will become known for.

Membership

After downloading the app to their tablets, users have the option to become Coaster & Crafted members for a monthly fee. Membership includes early access to new content, invitations to Coaster & Crafted beer tastings, and a monthly sampler pack delivered by Klink. This allows members to constantly be exploring the world of craft beer. It also gives them something to share with their friends or gift to other craft beer enthusiasts.

Clickable Prototype

Documentation

 
 
 
 

View PDF

Design Decisions

  • When I began planning how to design this magazine, I started by looking at different grid systems, searching for ones that would allow the most flexibility, while still providing opportunity for beautiful layouts. I came across the Van de Graaf canon while flipping through one of my typography books and saw that it would be the perfect foundation on which to build my grid system.
  • To make exploring craft beer in other cities available to users, I made the “Crafted for Your Location” heading function as a search bar. The user taps on the name of their current location, which slides up a keyboard, and allows the user to type the city they want to explore. The content below is reshuffled to show what craft beers are available in that city.
  • In order to make sure that the magazine maintained its readership, I designed the ecosystem to be cyclical. The user is suggested a beer review or brewery tour based on her preferences, she purchases the beer through Coaster & Crafted, writes her own review, and that review is then included in the article that was suggested to her. Other readers see her review and decide to try the beer themselves, then the cycle repeats. Readers’ exploration of craft beer through Coaster & Crafted creates content for the magazine to offer back to other readers, ensuring that there is always fresh content.
  • I wanted the navigation for the magazine to be simple to use, which is why I chose to have the user swipe right or left to switch between sections. This is a much faster interaction than going through the main menu, although that is an option if the user prefers it to swiping.
  • To encourage the social aspect of drinking, I designed the Beer Club section of the magazine. Readers can add people into their Beer Club, which allows them to see one another’s beer reviews, suggest beers to try, or plan meet ups to try the beers together.
  • I designed the purchasing options so that users could try the beers based on the social context. If the user wants to stay in to relax, he can have his beer delivered through Klink. If another user is on her way to a friend’s party and needs to pick up some beer, she can see what stores nearby sell the beer she’s after. Lastly, if a user wants to catch up with a friend at a bar, but wants to make sure the bar has the beer he likes, he can do that with Coaster & Crafted.

Process

 
 
 
 
 
 
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Squad: VCU Brandcenter

James Feess

Copywriter
www.jamesfeess.com

Geoff Castillo

Art Director
www.geoffcastillo.com

Kory Rozich

Experience Designer

My Role

  • Helped to guide strategy by pitching ideas for how to approach the magazine’s perspective and reason for being.
  • Conducted preliminary research by analyzing the competitive landscape, examining opportunities and risks, and doing one-on-one interviews with our target audience.
  • Pitched creative concepts for the brand’s identity and the magazine’s functionality.
  • Helped the team conduct interviews at three different Richmond breweries.
  • Helped shoot footage within the breweries.
  • Concepted and designed the magazine application, produced the wireframes and one of the hi-fi mockups.
  • Produced all of the documentation.