Omega Yeast Labs
Breathing Life Into Biotech
Refreshing your company's brand isn’t something you wake up one day and decide to do. It starts with a quiet discomfort. A tension between who you are and who you are becoming.
That’s what the founders of Omega Yeast Labs, a biotech company in craft brewing, were feeling back in 2017. Their products and services were maturing. Their reputation was growing. But their brand? It was still stuck in startup mode.
One of the two founders wanted to explore a brand refresh with us. The other wasn't so sure. So, in private, the first founder asked me, "In your experience, how do you convince someone that rebranding is worth it?" My reply was, "You can't." All you can do is start small (low commitment, low stakes), make them part of the process, and see where it leads.
So that's what we did. We started small. I offered to explore a refreshed version of what they already had — plus a few ideas for what their brand could become. No pressure. No assumptions. Just an open door.
“You can’t convince someone to rebrand. You can only invite them into the process. You make space for dialogue. You build trust. And you offer new possibilities without demanding big leaps up front.”
Kyle Eertmoed
Founder & Design Director, Eertmoed Studio
(Before)
Phase 1. Wayfinder
Immersion Before Imagination
Through our Wayfinder process, we kicked off with an all-day brand workshop: both founders, their internal brand manager, their lead copywriter, and us. All in a room, face-to-face. We talked about the past (purpose), the present (mission), and the future (vision). We talked about ethos, positioning, market shifts, ambition. And then we went deeper.
After the workshop, we researched the competitive landscape, analyzed insights, uncovered opportunities, and established recommendations. We call this the Wayfinder Roadmap. From the insights gained in the workshop, we defined things like core values, brand personality, brand positioning, and brand vision.
It's essential that this process takes place before any visual design begins. You can’t design what you don’t understand. And you shouldn’t start building a brand until you’ve got a strategic roadmap.
Phase 2. Design Exploration
A New Vision
With new clarity around who Omega Yeast was and how they wanted to represent themselves in the future, we presented three creative directions.
A refined evolution of their current brand, staying close to home.
A scientific concept rooted in the biological structure of yeast.
An experimental concept inspired by living yeast cultures.
We activated the yeast in a sugar solution, mixed it with ink, and scanned the textures that emerged. Those “yeast textures” became the foundation for a visual identity that felt raw, organic, and alive.
Each direction contained:
An inspiration board
Logo exploration
Typography exploration
Color exploration
Brand examples
Phase 3. Brand Build
From Living Culture to Living Brand
That last direction captured something neither founder had fully imagined possible before — a way to express the soul of their product visually. Even the skeptical founder said, “This is it.”
That's when we starting building a new brand system from the ground up, including: a visual identity rooted in fermentation — unpredictable, honest, alive; packaging that felt at home in the hands of craft brewers; a new website that educated, inspired, and converted; and collaborated with architects and interior designers to turn the lab into a brand experience
The new tagline we developed, “Craft Yeast for Craft Brews,” captured the voice of Omega perfectly: simple, confident, grounded. This wasn’t just a visual change — it was cultural. The internal team rallied around the new brand. Customers took notice. And the results followed.
“Kyle not only crafted beautiful works of art for us with his innate (and insane) talents but always did so in the most friendly, professional, and humble manner. He took the time and patience to understand our business so that he could perfectly bring our values, voice, and personality to life.”
Mark Schwarz
Co-Founder, Omega Yeast
The Final Outcome
Overview
Every beer you drink requires yeast during the brewing process. Different yeast strains yield different flavor profiles and styles of beer. That’s where Omega Yeast comes in. Based in Chicago and St. Louis, Omega Yeast grows over 75 strains of liquid yeast for Probrewers and Homebrewers. They’re known for propagating ultra fresh yeast that gives consistent results, as well as their one-of-a-kind strains you can’t find anywhere else. After gaining popularity in their regional market, Omega hired us to redesign their brand identity and position them on a national scale.
Brand Vision
Rather than focusing on the science behind the process, we came up with the tagline, “Craft Yeast for Craft Brews” and took a more artful approach. During the exploration phase, we were inspired by an idea to use Omega’s yeast to create textures and graphics which ultimately became the foundation of the brand image. We activated the yeast by mixing a warm sugar water solution with India ink to create 15 ‘yeast paintings.’ We contrasted the paintings with clean backgrounds and bold type, balancing professionalism with the raw nature of the craft beer world.
Logo Concept
For the new logo, we designed a letter ‘O’ (for Omega) with a budding yeast cell. We also created a set of ‘budding’ graphics that are used through the identity on things like posters, interior graphics and apparel. When they’re all put together, they form a graphic take on what scientists see under the microscope.
The Impact
Within a year of launch, Omega Yeast saw:
Customer Growth
Revenue Growth
Web Traffic Growth
“In Kyle’s time with Omega Yeast, revenues more than doubled. He can be trusted to elevate your brand and make sure you're noticed.”
— Lance Shaner, Co-Founder, Omega Yeast
This is why I do what I do. Not for the awards. Not for the numbers. But to help teams find the clarity, confidence, and creative momentum to step fully into who they are becoming. If your brand no longer feels like a reflection of your vision, or the company you’re growing into, you don’t need a flashy overhaul. You need a clear path forward. That’s what I help build.
