Bramble & Bine pivots to glassware, labels during pandemic 

FORT COLLINS — When the pandemic struck, Fort Collins graphic designer Michelle Taylor needed a way to continue Bramble & Bine without her business partner while also facing a slowdown in orders.

Taylor, owner of design company Michelle M. Taylor LLC, moved the business under her LLC and pivoted her focus to custom glassware and beer labels for weddings and special events.

“It was honestly a solution once my business partner left to keep Bramble & Bine going,” Taylor said. “I see it as a facet of my design services, specific to the wedding and event industry, but it’s more personal working with people not just businesses.”

Taylor met her business partner at Funkwerks: Craft Brewery & Taproom in Fort Collins — he was a brewer there, and she handled the graphic design and marketing, a position she held for 3½ years. They came up with the idea to design and craft custom glassware and specialty beer for weddings. The beer came in two styles, an IPA and a lighter German lager, that they bottled and labeled. 

“It was a little bit of fun outside of our jobs we were comfortable and stable in. We wanted to take a chance on an idea we felt could work,” Taylor said.

Taylor and her partner launched Bramble & Bine in November 2018 and hired a publicist to promote their brand, getting a few orders. Taylor transitioned out of her job in early 2020, deciding to focus on the company and freelance graphic design, so she founded Michelle M. Taylor LLC in January. But in March at the start of the pandemic, Taylor’s partner was laid off, and he decided to find a more stable full-time job.

Taylor, who isn’t a brewer, quit the brewing part of the business and focused on the glassware and labels, which can be placed on top of commercial beer bottles for a custom look and feel.

“I normally talk to the bride and get a feel of the aesthetic of the wedding,” Taylor said. “It’s a commemorative thing from the day that’s more artistic that goes along with the décor elements in their wedding.”

The glassware can be part of the couple’s table settings, a wedding favor or a welcome gift for their guests. It can include the couple’s initials, their images, the date of their wedding, the bride’s bouquet or a pattern or design element that is screen printed on high-quality glassware. The labels also can have the same sort of elements. 

“Everyone wants their wedding to be unique and special for them and their guests,” Taylor said. “They can have this thing they helped create. It’s a really special element, even though a small element, it can be a special part of the day.”

Home brewer Emily Hutto of Durango likes the customization that Bramble & Bine brings to a wedding day or other special event, she said.

“Beer geeks like myself tend to collect glassware to no end, and I can’t imagine a better day than your own wedding for which to have a special glass,” said Hutto, chief executive officer and founder of RadCraft. “Michelle’s style is funky yet clean, bold but simple. Beyond her own signature aesthetics though, she’s a muse when working with different brands or brides to best design materials that look and feel like theirs.”

Pedro Gonzalez of Boulder, president and general manager of New Planet Beer Co., finds Taylor to be one of the most creative artists he has worked with over the past 10 years.

“She is truly a one-woman show who can develop brand position, cutting-edge art, write and develop sales materials and other marketing collateral,” Gonzalez said. “She is timely, responsive, priced competitively and highly recommendable. Concerning her wedding biz, I would say to the potential customers that they are getting a real pro from the Colorado commercial beer scene to work on their project.”

Taylor initially worked in graphic design — something she’s done for 10 years — after earning a bachelor of arts degree in graphic design from Flagler College in Florida. She took her experience with breweries to focus her design work in the craft brewery, cider, CBD and hemp industries, plus a local farm and a university. She provides logos, social content, packaging and apparel design.

“It is interesting to go out on my own and to be able to work with different clients and different brands and not always work on the same thing,” Taylor said.

Taylor chooses to work for companies where she feels strongly about their brand stories and can invest in those brands.

“I’m not just a turn-and-burn designer trying to get things done and out the door,” Taylor said about creating custom designs instead of using templates. “This is truly a unique design that’s being created for them.”

Taylor also wants to help brands and people tell their stories, she said.

“My role as a designer is to project and show the voice of the brand or of the couple in a way they couldn’t do on their own and to help them achieve their goals through visual solutions,” Taylor said.”What makes graphic design unique from other creative fields is we’re making solutions.”

Taylor saw a spike in interest for Bramble & Bine in August when she designed wedding glass favors for a couple in the Orlando, Florida, area. She provided an illustration of the bride and groom on one side of the glass and their names on the other side.

“Other than that, it’s been really quiet,” Taylor said. “It seems like people are getting back into planning their weddings.” 

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