The Life of a Label Artist: A Look at Beer’s Prolific Visual Storytellers

Jolly Pumpkin and Stillwater - two breweries with visually striking labels that also make it damn hard to identify anything about the beer.

Shelves are super cluttered, and breweries are pulling out all the stops with their labeling in order to stand out... but the thing that many are forgetting is that when you have a sea of visual clutter, it is important to communicate to the audience quickly and easily. I'm beginning to lose my patience with breweries that make it difficult.

 

I appreciate the artistry involved in packaging the product but the best design imaginable won't make me buy it twice.

 

True enough, but when you find a kickass beer and it has kickass labeling, all the better. I like what GI has done with BCBS bottles and labeling. No fancy artwork per se, but the great beer plus the labeling almost makes you feel OK with the price!

 

I have purchased Stillwater a few times based solely on the artwork so there's that. I have however been disappointed more than a handful of times on the product inside the can once it hits my palate. I love a good looking can or bottle. Whether it's on the shelf or in my fridge. But the beer itself is the absolute ONLY reason I'd go back for a second purchase. Jolly Pumpkin btw . . . Usually outstanding !

 

Simplicity. Love what Side Project does with their labels. Themed according to style and just overall a very elegant presentation.

Also, a huge fan of Bottle Logic stasis labels. All the information conveyed in a simple standard themed format that makes it easy to know what you have in your hand.

 

Sounds like you, Zid, are more interested in buying and drinking a common beverage like beer than appreciating the ability to own a work of art?

I mean, c'mon, does it really matter what's inside the can when your recycling bin can be filled with these (well, except for that center can with those "words" - how gauche):

I know when I shop for beer, I want to see a shelf like this

not a bunch of print like I'm reading the !@#$ New York Times or something. Ruins the entire mystic of buying "craft" beer.

Instead, I get to wonder what that beer is, open the door, pull out a pack with one hand, spin a can with the other (maybe having to hold it horizontally) trying to find who brewed it and what sort of beer it's supposed to be (reading carefully to find what "innovative" fruit, vegetable, spice or other flavoring they've added) ... and then have to repeat the entire thing over again since I neglected to put on a pair of reading glasses.

 

I hate the 4/6 pack can spin.

 

A bit more involved that the 4/6 180° FLIP, to check the date code.

And the new (and otherwise annoying for other reasons) plastic PAKTECH type holder making a FLIP easier - one-handed! - since the cans tend to stay together upside down than with the old plastic rings, where they sometimes spread out like a blooming flower (with a can occasionally escaping all together).

 

Agreed. Singlecut cans have the style of beer in small print on the side. Kind of silly.

 

I couldn't care less what stupid artwork is on my beer. Take the money wasted on artwork and make the beer better. Unfortunately, this is the sorry world we live in. Dummies buying products for the packaging instead of the quality of the product.

 

Artwork can be appealing, certainly attractive. Like women. But it's what's inside the can and when it landed there that matters most to me. Again, like women. I'll take the contents over the package any day!

 

Aaargh... Get off my lawn!!!

 

Personally, I love all the crazy artwork from all the brewerys that are trying so hard. I may pick up a six pack on a whim based on the artwork but if it's not a good beer, that's the only sale they make from me. It comes down to what's in the bottle or can. Take Bell's Twohearted for example, it's one of the best beers on the planet but has one of the most unappealing labels. But it sells and sells like crazy. Why? Because its it's so good... Focus on the beer first, then the artwork later. But if it sells then keep on keepin' on.

 

Of the five cans pictured, only one of them tells me (in legible print, anyway) what type of beer it is.

So if I'm at the beer cooler and there are cans labelled so that I know what they are, and then these mystery cans next to them, I'm not going to put the effort into trying to decipher what's inside the mystery cans. Life's too short.

This artist guy may know how to make a good looking beer label, but that's not the same thing as a good beer label.

 

The challenge for me is that a lot of them start running together in my mind like a Jackson Pollack painting, making it difficult to remember one from another.

You’ll have no trouble picking this BEER out of the jumble of can art; distinctive, simple, memorable.

 

I liked the article... I love a great label and the extra layer of creativity and storytelling it can offer a beer. I do agree that relevant information should be clear and easy to find on the label and that the most important thing is whats inside, but I think theres plenty of room for both on cans/bottles. Plenty of breweries doing a great job in all these departments.

Cheers

 

Actually, I don't mind Singlecut cans at all. They are uniform yet distinctive, and the layout makes things relatively easy. I wish others followed their example.

 

Artistry is fine as long as it doesn't obscure the critical details about the product.
Here's my idea of a great beer label: