How did Hymn evolve a 25-year craft beer brand without losing its soul?

There’s something beautifully stubborn about craft beer. Once you’ve found your people – that loyal crowd who’ll argue passionately about your IPA’s hop profile – you don’t want to mess with a good thing. But what happens when 25 years pass, the market explodes, and suddenly everyone’s a craft brewer? That’s exactly where Dr. Gab’s found themselves. Back in the early 2000s, when craft beer in Switzerland was more novelty than norm, three friends took a punt on brewing differently. Fast forward to today, and they’re swimming in a sea of competitors, all clamouring for shelf space and Instagram likes. The brand that once felt fresh and rebellious... well, it was starting to show its age. Enter Hymn, the Lausanne-based studio with a knack for surgical precision. Their brief wasn’t just about making things prettier – it was about evolution without alienation, modernisation without losing soul. Oh, and there was one more thing: those medical references that had been part of the brand’s cheeky personality? They had to go, thanks to legal considerations. “Dr. Gab’s was one of the pioneers of craft beer in Switzerland back in the early 2000s,” explains Alexandre Henriques, Founder & Creative Director at Hymn. “Since then, the market has grown significantly and become much more competitive. The brand approached us with the need to reassert itself and modernise its identity to appeal to a new generation of consumers, while still honouring its strong heritage and loyal customer base.” It’s the kind of challenge that makes designers simultaneously excited and terrified. How do you keep a glass logo that’s become iconic without it feeling dated? How do you ditch the medical imagery while keeping the name that everyone knows? Hymn’s answer was refreshingly direct: simplify everything, then make it sing louder.