Someone Hold My BuffBrew!

by Charlene Irani

It’s not every day that we get to work with a client that values originality as much as we do. Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company (affectionately known as BuffBrew) has been a longtime client that not only shares our passion for creativity, but also our team’s love for a good beer. Since the brewery launched in 2011, Bouncing Pixel has been a staple participant in their journey.

The Original Tap Handle

We began our work with BuffBrew when their flagship "1836" was readied for release in bars and taprooms across Houston. This brew — named for the year of the Texas Revolution — was an homage to the rich and adventurous history of our state. Tasked with designing a tap handle that honored that spirit, we crafted it to resemble the butt of Davy Crockett’s famous rifle, Ol’ Betsy. We hoped that every time people saw our replica, they’d remember the Alamo while getting a taste of that Texas pride.

Designing Some Cans

While beer on tap is always great, cans are portable and find their way into more fridges, coolers, and koozies than we can count. And when that happens, people will be holding some of the things we helped make. You'll see our touch on new releases and old favorites, including More Cowbell, Crush City, Wake 'n Bake, Dreamsicle, and a few that we can't even talk about yet.

The Website

Since producing its first keg, the focus was on production and growing demand for the liquid. The online presence had been taking a back seat for too long, and there were some big ideas that needed to be shared with the brewery's fans. And so, a new website project was kicked off.

Proper research and needs analysis were essential exercises if we were to create something great for such an innovative brewery. Our team spent a lot of time getting to know the brand, hearing the stories, and tasting the beer. It was clear that they were living up to the label of “Houston’s Most Creative Brewery,” and we wanted to give them the power to tell their own story.

The result was a dynamic, in-your-face website full of the brewery’s innovative and independent personality. The site uses vibrant graphics, rich photography, bold text, and animated effects to reintroduce BuffBrew online. We wanted to give visitors a fun user experience while keeping it functional, so we made a beer gallery that chronicles all of the beers they've ever released.

Brewtopia

Since they’re crafting some of Houston’s most imaginative beers, it makes sense to do it in a brewery that inspires new ideas. With the popularity and demand for their beers growing beyond their capacity to produce, BuffBrew is doubling down with a plan that takes them from the original Nolda Street brewery to somewhere with a little more legroom. Fall of 2019 will mark the grand opening of “Brewtopia,” the new, 3-story, 28,000 square-foot brewery and beer garden at Sawyer Yards!

The Buffalo Gate

When BuffBrew’s founder, Rassul Zarinfar said he wanted people to enter the building “through a buffalo head," Jerald knew exactly what he meant. He got to work on designing a 20-foot archway, with the silhouette of the brewery’s iconic buffalo head punched out. This entryway will be constructed with wood paneling, assembled as if a giant stack of wood planks exploded and attached itself to the structure in what he calls "organized chaos." The Buffalo Gate is destined becomes another one of Houston’s iconic Instagram spots.

We’ve been working with BuffBrew for a while now, and it's been a wild ride. The brewery has come up with one idea after another, and we’ve tapped into our decades’ worth of experience for every project. With each new endeavor, you’d think their well of creativity has run dry. To that they say, “Hold my beer.”