Our Logo

26 Mar Our Logo

Many of you might have asked yourselves why we had a name and social media presence without an accompanying logo. In short, naming a brewery – or any publically-recognized entity for that matter – is a complete headache; every time you think you’ve nailed it, you’re just a quick googlesearch away from another crushed dream. Think I’m exaggerating? I am. But after foolishly thinking our first name would work for the first two months of our existence (only to have our lawyer inform us it might be a liability), we spent a great deal of time emailing something in the range of 150 names to one another over the next five months – names that had been thoroughly researched and vetted. However, with three owners tying their livelihoods to this venture, we were all very opinionated on what the final decision would be, and the quest for that perfect name continued unaccomplished.

Then, just a couple of months ago, we once again found a name we could all agree on. We designed the rough draft of the logo, excitedly posted it on Facebook, told all of our friends and family that we’d nailed it, and started the process of working into our legal documents with the finalized name incorporated. Well, as you can probably guess, while casually flipping through an issue of 5280, our “friend” and partner, Chris, went ahead and decided to find another business with a very similar name and logo. And like that, the quest began once again.

Flash forward to one month later, when the three of us have another list of names boiled down to two or three final candidates. After much discussion, and even more research – I’m talking about major googleresearch this time – we decided on Call to Arms Brewing Company. Not only did the name embody our desire to blaze our own trail within the craft beer community, it also allowed us the chance to design a logo in honor of the family members who’ve worked so hard to help us get to where we are today. Each symbol portrays our three families’ coats of arms, with families Bell, Cross and Roberts represented – Roberts being Jesse’s grandmother’s maiden name. (You try to find a true Brookstein coat of arms!) And therein lies why it took us little longer to design the logo than it did to announce the name: the name could be changed again if need be, but we wanted to be 100% sure the name was going to stick before asking our graphic designer to dive headfirst into the project.

Sure, we don’t have a brewery yet – hell, we’re still working on signing a lease (more news to come on that!) – but we have our concept, we have our experience and passion, we have the love and support of our friends and family, and now, after ten months, three names, and dozens of sketches, mock-ups, and conversations, we have a name and a logo.

Next post, we’ll bring back the bios, and you’ll have the chance to learn more about Denver’s own – the man, the myth, the legend – Jon Cross.