Nick Johnston | graphic design

“My name is Nick Johnston and I am a graphic designer currently living in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada. I specialize in branding, package design and advertising. I mix a classic design style with innovative and unique package design to set myself apart from the competition. I enjoy thinking three dimensionally and creating pieces that will stand out on a shelf full of other products.

I feel that a strong brand flows seamlessly through all platforms of communication with the customer or public. I enjoy the challenge of creating a uniform brand that connects with the intended target audience. A strong brand is built on strong concepts.” — Nick Johnston

Red Truck Beer Co.

“The old school idea of quality over quantity was the main concept behind this re-brand and campaign. All the packaging and ads were created in a vintage style to match that feeling. Almost all the ads were crafted with reference to vintage announcement posters. This was done to engage the audience into actually reading the ad, instead of just looking for an image and quickly flipping the page. The main action program from this campaign was the limited edition icebox. This is a piece that is meant to stand out in a liquor store, and also meant to challenge people to get off the couch and enjoy their ice cold brews outside.”

Pabst Blue Ribbon

“I had seen the idea of an open sided 6 pack case recently. I thought it was a great idea and used less material than a traditional 6 pack package. However, all the open side wraps I had seen had no real way of carrying or transporting the case. It would have been an awkward lift from the under side of the package. I decided to expand upon this existing idea and offer a simple solution. Two holes would be drilled in the top support piece, and a string handle would sit inside these holes. While sitting on display the handle would seem hidden, only until the customer needed the handle would it be pulled out and used. The type “Pabst Blue Ribbon” was hand lettered in order to flow with the shape on the ribbon.”

Bridges Restaurant and Bar

“This was a re-branding of a restaurant located on Granville Island in Vancouver, B.C. This restaurant is in one of the most beautiful areas of Vancouver and features a huge deck that allows the costumers to enjoy great food with an equally great view. Since the restaurant is located directly on the water and features a large seafood menu the nautical approach in styling fit well. The overall style chosen was a clean and vintage one. A serif typeface was used for most of the typographic treatments and accented with a script typeface, combining the two typefaces married the modern and vintage worlds nicely. To keep things clean and simple only 2 colours were used throughout the branding process. These 2 colours were the blue of the logo and anything that would usually be done in white used a 2% yellow to give it more of a creamy/vintage feel.”

Bushman Grooming Kit

“This brand and product was created for the outdoorsman and camper. Many grooming kits are just thrown together and neglect to add any character into the actual product, because they feel that it will just be beat up and for the most part kept in a dirty camping bag. This product is created for the outdoorsman that does appreciate when something is built with quality and there is an attention to detail. The logo symbolizes a mountain man with a bushy beard and the colour was chosen with reference to the deep red of a plaid lumberjack jacket. In order to mix the vintage world with the modern, a script typeface was used in the wordmark of the logo and a sans-serif typeface was used on most of the packaging. The combination of steel, wood, leather and the cream colour (instead of 100% white) all add to the vintage feel of the project.”