During my second year of university I started as Pirate Life Brewing’s Graphic Designer. With a senior designer based in Melbourne who had developed the original branding, I expected to learn a lot. Within months of starting, Pirate Life was acquired by AB InBev, the largest beer company in the world. The senior designer departed and I was left to manage the branding, packaging, trade marketing, social media website of one of the fastest growing breweries in the world. What began as a team of just me, grew into a powerhouse group of marketing professionals across trade, copy, and product.

Tasting Paddle Design

Before construction began on Pirate Life’s new Port Adelaide brewery, I identified an opportunity to reinvent the tasting paddle experience. Conventional paddles had clear flaws, from heavy chopping board styles to designs where customers quickly forgot which beer was which. I partnered with local stainless steel manufacturers to develop a dishwasher-safe, stackable, lightweight, and indestructible paddle. This unique design has since been rolled out across all Pirate Life venues in Australia as a core part of the visitor experience.

Pirate Life Website

I worked closely with stakeholders to deliver a refreshed website for Pirate Life Brewing and its venues across Australia. The homepage was designed to enable one-click navigation to key user journeys:
• Learning about the beer being enjoyed
• Buying beer online
• Finding venue information

The result was a robust, flexible website that remains in use today and has continued to grow and evolve naturally.

Marketing Collateral

I developed hundreds of pieces of marketing collateral for dozens of SKUs during my time at Pirate Life. Each suite stemming from a 'key visual', I worked across digital, print, motion and interactive assets both in Pirate Life's signature style and within partner group styles.

This involved producing, retouching and optimising product shots, both with photography and 3D renders.