The Old Course at St Andrews is known the world over as ‘The Home of Golf’. It’s also home to the one of the sport’s governing authorities - The R&A.
Positioned beside the historic Old Course clubhouse sits the R&A’s World Golf Museum - a must-see attraction for the town’s 100,000+ golf tourists*.
Maguires was approached by The Rocca Group to develop a fresh brand identity for the cafe/brasserie within the museum. The identity had to play on the golfing heritage of the venue - to be renamed ‘Clarets’ - after the famous Claret Jug Open Championship trophy.
We began by looking into the history of the Claret Jug trophy, to see how we could bring some of its much-storied history into the brand.
First awarded in 1873, the original sterling silver Claret Jug was made by Mackay Cunningham & Company of Edinburgh** - a Scottish firm of goldsmiths and silversmiths who’s legacy is still apparent today, as James Hamilton of Hamilton & Inches was originally apprenticed to the company***.
We discovered a rare example of the company’s branding printed within a wooden presentation box, dated just prior to the creation of the Claret Jug. This distinctive blackletter-style typeface became our inspiration for the Clarets brand marque.
Using the ‘C’ from ‘Cunningham’ as our inspiration, we developed a bespoke letterform to create a unique brand marque that could be used in addition to the main text-based brand logo.
Further design cues were taken from the trophy.
Based on the distinctive handle of the jug, we created small decorative scrolls to sit within the brand roundel, as well as the ‘St Andrews’ supporting line of the main logo. We also developed a range of subtle patterns for the backgrounds of menus and packaging, based on the many illustrious names that were engraved upon the trophy.
Having a varied brand identity allowed the brand to come to life across a number of packaging and signage executions.
Finally we developed a colour palette and font system evocative of classic cafe/brasseries. Having a burgundy/claret as the main brand colour was a given, of course. However, to give the brand better flexibility and longevity in their packaging and advertising, we introduced playful food-inspired complimentary colours to the brand scheme with names such a ‘Salmon’, ‘Oat’, ‘Aubergine’ and ‘Coffee’.
Clarets was launched in March 2026.
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Supporting site photography courtesy of The Social Co.
*Sport Industry Research Centre (SIRC) at Sheffield Hallam University.
**theopen.com
***lyonandturnbull.com
