Firstep

Firstep is a Central European contract brewery founded in 2024 by friends with previous brewing experience in the Czech Republic. The brewery focuses on fresh, hop-forward beers alongside limited barrel-aged releases. Two new beers are launched every month, each with its own name and distinct visual identity, with the ambition to sell them at peak freshness.

From the beginning, the challenge was to create a system that could support constant variation without losing brand coherence. Firstep needed to stand out within an oversaturated craft beer market while appealing to a new generation of drinkers – those coming from specialty coffee and natural wine culture who value originality and visual boldness.
Logo and Brand Strategy
The liquid lettering of the Firstep logo expresses movement and freshness – the brewery’s core value. Beer is meant to be enjoyed young, while hop character remains vibrant.

Rather than following typical craft beer aesthetics, the brand positions itself visually closer to contemporary beverage culture. The identity deliberately avoids clichés of traditional brewing and instead embraces expressive typography and flexible graphic experimentation.

Custom Typeface – FirstypeA custom rounded typeface, Firstype, was developed to extend the language of the liquid logo into a scalable system. Used across packaging, social media and communication, it acts as a unifying backbone of the brand.

Each beer release receives a unique transformation of Firstype – through distortion, expansion, compression or stylistic shifts. This approach allows every product to develop its own personality while remaining recognisably part of the Firstep universe.

Can System – Fresh ReleasesFresh beers are packaged in cans and kegs. Given that two new beers are released simultaneously each month, a packaging system was designed to maximise visibility in crowded retail fridges.

The cans use a two-part label structure – one Slovak label for the domestic market and one English label for international distribution. A large diagonal logo connects both sides. When two cans are placed next to each other, they form a single oversized Firstep logo, reinforcing brand recognition in retail environments.

Individual labels incorporate unique illustrations, patterns and subtle graphic details that reward attentive drinkers and collectors. Transparent sticker foil allows the aluminium surface to interact with light, creating shifting reflections under fridge lighting.

Beer styles follow a consistent colour logic – for example, hoppy lagers in green tones and NEIPAs in yellow-orange – creating intuitive navigation across the range.

Bottle System – Barrel-Aged ReleasesBarrel-aged beers are released in bottles and positioned as limited, non-repeatable editions. Here, custom lettering becomes the primary visual element.

The Firstep logo is intentionally reduced and placed on the edge of the label next to the phrase “Firstep is fresh beer.” The word “fresh” is struck through and replaced with “barrel aged,” signalling a deliberate shift from the brewery’s core positioning.

Holographic, kaleidoscopic and gold foils on deep black backgrounds reinforce the premium and experimental character of these releases.

CollaborationsCollaboration releases integrate both breweries’ identities through dual logo placements and hybrid typographic interpretations.

For the barrel-aged collaboration “First Creature” with Wild Creatures, a wine-like bottle shape was selected to reflect the wild-fermented character of the beer and bridge the gap between beer and natural wine culture.

System in Practice – December 2025 BundleIn December 2025, Firstep released a four-beer bundle consisting of two fresh cans and two limited barrel-aged bottles. This release demonstrates how the brand system operates across formats – from monthly fresh drops to rare barrel-aged editions – maintaining flexibility, coherence and strong recognisability across the entire portfolio.

Designing brands build to last.