Modelo’s new NA beer might have the best logo of the year
The world is awash in nonalcoholic beer right now. Athletic led the category with some $95.8 million in sales in 2024, followed by the legacy barons Heineken ($89.45 million), Budweiser ($62.37 million), Busch ($37.08 million), and Corona ($28.6 million). As Beverage Industry reports, 0% beer is predicted to continue growing by double digits this year, so it comes as no surprise that Modelo—which overtook Bud Light as the U.S.’s leading beer in 2023—is getting into the game. What does come as a surprise is the logo of its new alcohol-free beer. Some brands, like Heineken, simply made a few tweaks and added a “0.0.” Others, like Budweiser, stripped the can of color (conceptually fun!) and added a “Zero.” But none of them were as perfectly primed to go NA as Modelo.[Image: Modelo]The brand’s new logo is as serendipitous as it is straightforward, but no less sublime. It almost feels like an intervention by the design gods, perhaps not unlike the FedEx arrow. And that’s likely why there was no debate when Gut Design presented the work to Modelo. It was an instant “go.”“You cannot unsee that, right?” says Murilo Melo, Gut’s global head of design. “They said . . . we don’t have to see anything else. It was kind of a magic moment.”[Image: Modelo]Model0%Around six months ago, Modelo brought the Gut agency on to oversee the strategy and branding of what would become Model0% Dorada and Model0% Negra, which just launched in Mexico. The company was focused on creating a nonalcoholic beer that tasted like beer—or, rather, a nonalcoholic Modelo that tasted like Modelo, which the brand says it achieved via a proprietary yeast formula.When it came to the branding, Melo says Modelo needed a system that would work across multiple flavors and styles of its beer to prime it for the future. Given the company’s success and its 100-plus-year history, “there was an intention to honor the legacy of the brand,” Melo says. “So what we tried the most was to preserve the equity and everything the brand already had.”They experimented with various concepts and hooks. But then, in an informal Gut team chat in WhatsApp, someone posted “Model0%.”[Image: Modelo]“When we did that, we said, ‘Whoa. There’s something here.’ ” Melo adds that his team has a mantra to keep things simple and powerful (“we always try, but it’s quite hard”)—and, well, they had stumbled upon a mark that visually signifies a nonalcoholic Modelo that tastes like the regular Modelo fans love. Gut built out a system for the brand that can scale across new NA products, featuring secondary typeface Rauschen B (a funky, unexpected choice), a “0%” label at the top of the bottle sporting the “o” of the legacy logo, and more. The bottle does away with the lions, banner, and other elements from the original. But look closely at that “o,” and you’ll indeed find some of the parallel line motifs from the full-strength formula.Ultimately, it all yielded that immediate green light from Modelo.“Everybody was so on board to respect the visual legacy of the beer, and open to something new,” Melo says. “It was a perfect match.”How often does that happen?“Less than I would like it to,” he says with a laugh.
The world is awash in nonalcoholic beer right now. Athletic led the category with some $95.8 million in sales in 2024, followed by the legacy barons Heineken ($89.45 million), Budweiser ($62.37 million), Busch ($37.08 million), and Corona ($28.6 million).
As Beverage Industry reports, 0% beer is predicted to continue growing by double digits this year, so it comes as no surprise that Modelo—which overtook Bud Light as the U.S.’s leading beer in 2023—is getting into the game.
What does come as a surprise is the logo of its new alcohol-free beer. Some brands, like Heineken, simply made a few tweaks and added a “0.0.” Others, like Budweiser, stripped the can of color (conceptually fun!) and added a “Zero.” But none of them were as perfectly primed to go NA as Modelo.
The brand’s new logo is as serendipitous as it is straightforward, but no less sublime. It almost feels like an intervention by the design gods, perhaps not unlike the FedEx arrow. And that’s likely why there was no debate when Gut Design presented the work to Modelo. It was an instant “go.”
“You cannot unsee that, right?” says Murilo Melo, Gut’s global head of design. “They said . . . we don’t have to see anything else. It was kind of a magic moment.”
Model0%
Around six months ago, Modelo brought the Gut agency on to oversee the strategy and branding of what would become Model0% Dorada and Model0% Negra, which just launched in Mexico. The company was focused on creating a nonalcoholic beer that tasted like beer—or, rather, a nonalcoholic Modelo that tasted like Modelo, which the brand says it achieved via a proprietary yeast formula.
When it came to the branding, Melo says Modelo needed a system that would work across multiple flavors and styles of its beer to prime it for the future. Given the company’s success and its 100-plus-year history, “there was an intention to honor the legacy of the brand,” Melo says. “So what we tried the most was to preserve the equity and everything the brand already had.”
They experimented with various concepts and hooks. But then, in an informal Gut team chat in WhatsApp, someone posted “Model0%.”
“When we did that, we said, ‘Whoa. There’s something here.’ ” Melo adds that his team has a mantra to keep things simple and powerful (“we always try, but it’s quite hard”)—and, well, they had stumbled upon a mark that visually signifies a nonalcoholic Modelo that tastes like the regular Modelo fans love.
Gut built out a system for the brand that can scale across new NA products, featuring secondary typeface Rauschen B (a funky, unexpected choice), a “0%” label at the top of the bottle sporting the “o” of the legacy logo, and more. The bottle does away with the lions, banner, and other elements from the original. But look closely at that “o,” and you’ll indeed find some of the parallel line motifs from the full-strength formula.
Ultimately, it all yielded that immediate green light from Modelo.
“Everybody was so on board to respect the visual legacy of the beer, and open to something new,” Melo says. “It was a perfect match.”
How often does that happen?
“Less than I would like it to,” he says with a laugh.
