about us
why brewpubs?
the team
The Backroom is a design and marketing studio built specifically for brewpubs. We started it because we kept seeing the same problem from both ends: the brewer who opened a restaurant and can't figure out why the dining room is empty on a Tuesday, and the restaurant operator who added a brewery and has a great space but a tap list that looks like it was made in Microsoft Word.
Neither one has a marketing department. Neither one has time to learn Canva, keep the Google profile updated, or maintain an Instagram grid that isn't embarrassing. And when they finally hand it off to a friend or the bartender who "knows design," the quality lasts about two weeks.
We picked this lane because we've spent enough time inside these businesses to know what actually goes on. Some brewpub owners started as brewers who realized they needed food service to make the math work. Others came from the restaurant side and added a brewery because they saw an opportunity, or because they were tired of paying someone else's markup on draft beer. Either way, they ended up running a hybrid business that's harder to operate than a standalone restaurant or a standalone brewery.
The big branding studios don't see these people. They see breweries with distribution and retail placement goals. The digital marketing agencies don't see them either. They sell SEO packages built for businesses trying to rank in a city of 500,000, not a brewpub trying to get the neighborhood to remember trivia night is Wednesday.
Austin has been designing for breweries and food & beverage brands in the Pacific Northwest for over a decade. The branding work he did for Aslan Brewing put him in the middle of a community where owners talk to each other. What he kept hearing was the same thing from both sides of the bar.
The Backroom exists to be the responsible crew in the back who keeps the boring stuff running. Event listings that are actually current. A menu that looks like it belongs in your space. Seasonal labels that make someone scrolling their phone stop and think, "I should check that place out again." None of it is glamorous. All of it compounds.
Nate Wright runs the business side, sales, and marketing operations. He built B2B Bandits, a digital marketing company focused on small business growth, and brings the email, ads, and event marketing infrastructure that turns design work into actual customers walking through the door.
Austin Martin handles all design work. He built the brand identity for Aslan Brewing Co. in Bellingham, WA back in 2012, and has spent the over a decade designing labels, packaging, menus, signage, and websites for breweries and food & beverage brands across the Pacific Northwest.
The rest of the crew includes a copywriter, an ads specialist, and a network of freelance illustrators and photographers.