High-Proof Creative

Founded in 2018 by Karen Locke, High-Proof Creative is a Portland, Oregon agency built specifically around the craft beverage industry, working with distilleries, non-alcoholic beverage brands, and CPG producers. The agency is woman-founded and woman-owned, with a small team whose members have backgrounds in marketing for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage brands. Karen Locke has a background as a food and drink writer, has been published in outlets such as GQ, Bon Appétit, and Sip Northwest, and is the author of "High-Proof PDX: A Spirited Guide to Portland's Craft Distilling Scene." She holds board and membership roles with organizations including the Women's Distillery Guild, the Portland Culinary Alliance, Women of the Vine & Spirits, the American Distilling Institute, and the American Craft Spirits Association. Services cover logo and label design, branding workshops, website development and maintenance, social media management, SEO and content creation for blogs and email newsletters, photography, and ad management across Google, Facebook, and Instagram. The agency also offers consulting and training related to marketing and TTB label approval, along with creative campaign development, public relations and influencer management, and eCommerce strategy. Portfolio work shown includes logo and label design for distilleries and spirits producers such as Water Tower Distilling Co., Reverb Distilling, Broken Tee Vodka, Kayak Gin, and Summit Distilling Co., among others, spanning bottle, can, and label design projects. The agency positions its offering around comprehensive marketing support tailored to craft spirits and beverage brands, from initial branding and packaging through ongoing digital marketing and content production.