Great Lakes can/bottle artwork & design

I've only ever seen Rally Drum cans so far so I guess they are my favorite. Nosferatu is a really great bottle label though. That and Blackout Stout are probably my two favorites.

 

The barrel aged stuff from Pipeworks works for me on a design level.

There's some uniformity but room for variation, the designs reference the "regular" versions of the beer, and it looks classy but isn't overly solemn.

 

I think the Corridor crowler design is cool.

 

Pipeworks had a great label for Last Kiss from a few years ago. Solemn Oath does some good work as well on their bottles. While not from Chicago, one of my favorites is Jolly Pumpkin (although I think they're changing them soon..)

 

Phineas X Jones. Half Acre. I'd put his breadth of work up against any other brewery.

 

Great thread topic! While I'm definitely no art critic I'm very fascinated by the beer-packaging-as-art trend that has emerged with the rise of craft.

I'll start with another rep for Solemn Oath. The murals they've got in the brewery are pretty rad too, and they've done some limited prints from time to time. The total packaging on their Bruery collab from a few years ago was awesome, although I think they worked with a design company on some of that too.

Aside from that, I like what Pipeworks has done with their cans too, but maybe it's cuz I really like that comic book style and the vibrant colors. The silhouette plus monochrome look of Burnt City's cans strikes a chord with me too, enough to make me check out their offerings even if I'm not blown away by their beer.