Monument City is a startup brewery founded by two brothers in Baltimore, MD. They started with a passion for beer and a strong desire to stake out a space in the regional market, then brought Orange Element on board to help define a strategy, build out an identity, and bring them successfully to launch.

Craft beer is an exciting industry. It’s also crowded, especially in Baltimore where names like Union, Flying Dog, and Brewers Art (among others) have a well-earned and well-deserved foothold. Our task was to work with Monument City to analyze the existing market and competition, then figure out where Monument could find a niche, while at the same time honestly representing who they are and who they want to be.

Given that everyone here at Orange Element is passionate about both craft beer and supporting local businesses, we jumped at the chance to bring this brand to life. We started with the brand positioning, coining the phrase “honest craft beer” to position Monument as a high-quality yet accessible entrant to the market. We moved from there to the visual identity and core brand messaging, which we developed as a modern nod to the tone, look, and feel of regional family breweries from the past. Finally, we built it all out into a complete launch-ready package (with accompanying strategy).

Since hitting taps in late 2014, Monument has sold out of their entire stock on multiple occasions, and demand is so strong that they’ve expanded beyond Baltimore City & County more quickly than initially anticipated.