The story behind Fine Swine Chandlery, like most brand stories, is passionate, heartfelt, and powerful.

James and Brandon, co-founders, have also served this country, as Infantry members of the Canadian Army.  They have both been deployed overseas and returned home safely.  However, “Safe” is not always “Okay”. Cataloging memories good and bad, idly moving back into home life, and in some cases, experiencing the isolation that follows.
It started taking longer to rebound.

In 2019 Brandon straight up asked James one day if he would like to make candles with him.  Brandon, who was now a member of the Edmonton Police Force, was struggling with isolation while on leave, post-injury.   After realizing how serious Brandon was about exploring a creative outlet in his time away from work, James agreed to start building a small business with him as chandlers.

And so Fine Swine Chandlery was born.  Eventually, what started as an emotional release project, eventually grew momentum.  Word got out about their story and desire to have these creative outlets. Originally most of their candles we sold or given to friends and family, but shortly after start-up members of the community and online followers wanted a way to buy them as well.

James approached me in 2020 to help create a logo for their candles.  It was at that time that I explained to them during our first official client meeting, that their brand would be more than just a logo - that it was their story that had built momentum - more than their product.

As much as they loved their brand story, James and Brandon were clear that they wanted this adventure to be separate from their roles in service.  FineSwine Chandlery was a business they wanted to create so they could explore their identities outside of their careers. They wanted the logo to highlight their personalities.  Brandon wanted “old-school class, like from the 1920” - and James who is well known for his “incredible stash”.  They unanimously came up with the idea that they wanted a “pig in a top hat with an epic mustache”.