Astley
Project Name: Ad Gefrin Distillery
Client: Studio MB
Sector: Venue
Location: Wooler, Northumberland, United Kingdom
Role: Translated original design concepts into manufacture-ready solutions, providing the manufacture and installation of a variety of internal and external branded assets for the Ad Gefrin site.
The brief: Astley was approached by Studio MB to help produce a variety of interior, exterior, and wayfinding signage products for Ad Gefrin, the Anglo-Saxon Museum and whisky distillery located in Northumberland. Branded assets ranged from door signage to wayfinding totems and the Ad Gefrin roundel.
Outcome: To help brand the newly built distillery and aid in showcasing its rich heritage was a challenge that Astley was eager to undertake! This project highlighted the benefits of working with Astley as a creative production partner,
as they were able to combine new and contemporary skills with traditional signmaking techniques.
The main showpiece of the project was the Ad Gefrin roundel. Spanning almost 3m, the impressive centrepiece depicts the brand’s logo in a Celtic design that gives a nod to Northumbria’s Golden Age.
The roundel, made from aluminium, boasts an engraved design that was cut out meticulously using CNC technology. It was then finished with a spray of InnoMetal copper – a liquid metal that can be applied to almost any substrate – which provided the roundel with a rich, copper finish. This was a technique not previously used by Astley but was quickly added to the Kettering team’s skillset.
The external totem signs were made from a combination of timber and stone. The stone, sourced locally, was hand-chiselled with an intricate Celtic design extracted from Ad Gefrin’s logo. Similarly, this Celtic design also embellished the internal wooden signage, including both door and wall-mounted signs.
The natural aesthetic of the signage truly embodies the unique heritage of the site and its roots – almost giving the feeling of the site being risen from the ground up.
Case study submitted by: Sandy Lockyer (email: sandy.lockyer@astley-uk.com), Content Writer, Astley.
Read more about the project.
[This case study features short-term (up to one month) on our news page for all website visitors to read about, and long-term in our case study library, accessible only to paid up SDS members.]