Guinness: New Harp icon by DesignBridge

Design Bridge and Guinness are very excited to reveal details of their work redesigning the world famous Guinness harp icon. The new harp conveys the true craftsmanship and history behind Guinness’s distinctive beers that set it apart from the recent wave of new, craft beers, while also resonating with the next generation of drinkers.

To bring their vision to life, Design Bridge made models and mock-ups of their initial harp sketches with expert guidance from London-based harp-makers Niebisch & Tree. This collaborative process allowed the team to fully immerse themselves in the harp's shape and form, from the characteristic curve of the harmonic neck to the way shadows are cast on the instrument, ensuring their design looked and felt as authentic as possible. Design Bridge then sought the expertise of renowned illustrator Gerry Barney, who had drawn a previous version of the Guinness harp in 1968, who hand drew the new icon from their collection of sketches and harp models.

Design Bridge also collaborated with artisan letterpress print studio, New North Press, to help dramatise the harp's form even further and create the striking physical impression of the final design. Separating the harp illustration out into a series of layers, Design Bridge experimented with letterpress techniques to build up the design by overlaying different colours, textures and techniques, such as embossing, foil block and metallic inks. The final design captures the tactility, depth, light and shadow the team got to know so well through their sketch work, illustrations and 3D harp models.