For nearly 150 years, Genesee has been a hometown hero in Rochester, NY. But beyond its home turf, all that history wasn’t translating into meaning. The brand had become known more for its price than what it stood for.

We partnered with Genesee to rebuild the brand from the strategic foundations up—protecting the accessibility and familiarity longtime drinkers love while uncovering a richer story that could make Genesee matter to a new generation.

01. ILLUMINATION: Legacy Lives Here

Genesee didn’t need more heritage. It needed to make its heritage mean something. So we went back to where it all began: Rochester.

Through immersion in the brand, its archives and its hometown, alongside conversations with local loyalists and drinkers beyond the region, we uncovered a story much bigger than beer.

The brewery has remained a constant presence in Rochester while countless other companies have come and gone. During Prohibition, Genesee famously made bread instead of beer to keep its people employed. Today, the brewery still employs hundreds of local Rochesterians, including second- and third-generation members of the Genesee family.

What emerged wasn’t simply a story of longevity. It was a story of the people who keep showing up, putting in the work and finding a way forward.

That gave us the foundation for a more meaningful role for Genesee.

We repositioned the brand around the builders of the past, present and future—the people whose hard work may not always get noticed, but is never irrelevant.

Genesee is one of these unseen grinders. A brand that has quietly kept brewing, building and adapting for nearly 150 years.  Proudly celebrating their hard-working roots, Genesee is the beer that sees it and celebrates it.

02. REVELATION: Behind the Seen

From that strategic foundation came a creative idea that could turn Genesee’s ethos into a world: Behind the Seen.

Because some of the best stuff happens where nobody is looking.

Behind the finished beer are the brewers, processes, experiments and know-how that make it possible. Behind a city are the people who build it. And behind every accomplishment is a whole lot of work most people never see.

Behind the Seen brings that unseen work into view.

It celebrates the craft, skill, resourcefulness and pride behind Genesee—and the same qualities in the people who drink it.

Instead of romanticizing the past, the idea gave us a way to use Genesee’s history to celebrate something just as relevant today: the pride—and the fun—in a job well done.

03. CREATION: Showing the Work

We translated Behind the Seen into a refreshed identity system designed to reveal the workings behind the brand.

We started by identifying what was truly iconic about Genesee—and separating meaningful heritage from nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake.

A redrawn wordmark takes inspiration from historic Genesee lettering, including the iconic brewery sign that still stands in Rochester today. The Red Eye was refined into a stronger, more contemporary silhouette, while the long-standing G Stalk was elevated from a background detail into a more distinctive brand asset.

We then introduced a consistent illustration language that literally exposes the “workings” behind the beer—bringing a gritty, handcrafted spirit to the system while remaining flexible enough to stretch from Genesee’s core beers to its more playful Specialty range, which famously features beloved hand-drawn characters like the Captain and the Goat.

Actual notes from the master brewers’ process bring another layer of humanity and craft, while a composite illustration of the brewery and surrounding landscape grounds the brand unmistakably in the place that made it.

Together, the elements make Genesee feel less like a basic value beer and more like what it has been all along: a bold, storied American icon.

04. REALIZATION: A Hard-Working Brand System

With a complex portfolio spanning core and specialty brews, the new Genesee needed to do more than tell a good story. It needed to work hard.

We built a cohesive packaging and identity system that strengthens Genesee’s masterbrand while giving every beer enough room to express its own personality.

A clearer hierarchy, more consistent brand assets and unified illustration language create stronger recognition across the portfolio, while flexible storytelling tools allow Behind the Seen to extend beyond the pack and into the broader brand world.

The result is a system grounded in nearly 150 years of history but designed for whatever Genesee builds next.

Launched in May 2026, the new Genesee spans brand strategy, visual identity, packaging, portfolio architecture and guidelines—rolling out across convenience stores and retailers throughout the Northeast.

It protects what generations of Rochester drinkers already love while giving new audiences more to discover.

Nearly 150 years in, Genesee is still putting in the work.

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