There’s so much vibrant work being done in the overlap of beer and design. I especially dig the narrative angle of much of the Jolly Pumpkin label art—the hooded female traveler and attendant owl on Forgotten Tales of the Last Gypsy Blender; the regal & thirsty feline on La Roja, with epaulettes and cat bun; the paddling skeleton (in maybe the same jacket as the cat) floating by a dragon-fruit sea creature on Persimmon Ship. I have zero clue what the masked figure on the L’épouvantail Noir label is up to, for example. But I definitely want to find out.
Compelling beer-label design will often involve including a certain measure of narrative heft, usually driven by character. The cloud kings, multi-season brains, and supernatural spaces of Jester King’s artwork by Josh Cockrell. The full piazzas, barrel-aged apartment buildings, and living landscapes of Colin Healey at Prairie Artisan Ales. Also: witchsharks, wizard wolf, and ruin layouts from Bellwoods Brewery in Toronto, designed by Doublenaut. Partizan Brewing in London. The lush cans of Indeed. Plus, the pattern-heavy: the Stillwaters and Other Halfs.
It’s hard to imagine that there’s ever been a more creative, competitive period in label design. Which brewery’s artwork are you currently digging?
