Flying Mouse Brewery: Brewing Up a Brand with Paper

Tucked away in Virginia’s Blue Ridge mountains is Flying Mouse Brewery, an artisanal beer brewery whose mascot is, well, a flying mouse. When brothers Frank and Chris Moeller decided to go into business, they didn’t want to just brew beer, they wanted to create a brand with a unique and engaging narrative. As Creative Director, Chris Moeller used Paper as his go-to tool to capture ideas and mock up concepts.

“In many ways, my character Bartleby Hopsworth (the Flying Mouse mascot) was born on Paper. I ran with the idea of an adventurous mouse who dreams of flight and invents a wing pack to make it happen. After tons of sketches and explorations using Paper on my iPad, the intrepid Bartleby Hopsworth (named after hops and barley) was brought to life.”

Chris himself resides in San Francisco, California and during his daily train ride he would use Paper to ideate Flying Mouse’s imagery. It helped flesh out ideas well past his initial sketches, including branding visuals for everything from the beer label logo, to banners, posters, and gift shop items.

It also helped him collaborate cross-country with his brother Frank, and collect feedback from other team members based in Virginia near the brewery.

“Since my partner Frank and I are on different coasts much of the time, we frequently collaborate over the phone or email. This often includes sharing my artwork from Paper to keep him in the loop as I further develop the character and brewery brand images, and we used these to discuss directions and make decisions on final designs.”

Flying Mouse Brewery soon plans to expand their distribution beyond Virginia and West Virginia, bringing their self-described “style-bending” brand to the rest of the country. With Paper as a potent ingredient to the look and feel of of this unique company, we can’t wait to see what they brew up next!