Against The Grain

Installations, Logos, Print, Websites

Against the Grain is the leading craft beer bar in Dublin and flagship bar in the Galway Bay Brewery family of bars.

A redesign had been in the works for over a year but as the bar was already so popular we needed to be very careful not to alienate the loyal regulars.

Project details

This was a substantial job involving a full redesign of the main bar, installation of a new counter and substantial changes to every area. To minimise closing times, the old bar was ripped out and replaced in 48 hours over Good Friday. Painting followed immediately after though this and all other work was carried out without impact to the opening times. A new colour palette was devised for the bar and a guiding message encouraging visitors to experiment with the beers available and explore the range employed to tie it all together. This spirit of experimentation is carried throughout the whole bar represented in much of the art and spelt out on the bar counter itself “If you never try … you’ll never know”.

Some time later we created a new logo and signage for the exterior of the building.

An important element of the new design is to move people deeper into and around the venue. We encourage people to venture upstairs and give them improved spaces to make them feel more at home. Designated areas for promotion and merchandise aim to keep the design from becoming cluttered over time.