Beer Label Design

[Gino]

For what's it's worth, being an ex-beer drinker and well trained and accomplished at it, I never really cared what the label looked like, what it said or what color it was. I was more interested in the content. I did like the more clear bottles so I could see what the animal of the week was.... floating around inside.

However, I would be a little upset, if a glass bottle of unopened beer had a head on it like that one does. Sure, sweating from being ice cold, the way they drink it over here, but a head, inside an untapped bottle. Now that's just weird.

 

[niksagkram]

Love it!! Though I do drink beer with names such as Pig's A*S*S* http://www.harvestmoonbrew.com/index.php?p=pigs-***-porter and Moose Drool http://bigskybrew.com/beers/moose-drool/

 

[Joe Diaz]

As a lifelong craft beer lover and long time home brewer as qualifications, I'd respectfully point out that perhaps the reason some of those here including myself mistook your rendition of a hops bud as being morphed into an artichoke, or other vegetable is because that is what it looks like to us.

I've seen and consumed thousands of different craft beers in my life and frankly have never seen a hop bud rendered quite as "creatively" as you did it. I know its tough to get some less than gushing feedback in the rarified air you operate in, but some of us do have eyes and don't need to stand corrected or be condescended to just because we pointed something to someone so talented as yourself.

What about what I said was "condescending" Tim? I think you are reading between the lines a bit. I've been nothing but polite. And while I'm sure many of you know what hops look like, there is a real possibility that some do not. That post was addressed to those people, not you. I addressed that early on, I've also walked on egg shells and thought I got in front of this thing by explaining that the job is done and that is the reason I'm not going to change it, I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings by not making every change that is suggested but if it would make some feel better, I can make adjustments just to please those here. I'd rather not though. I think it looks like a hops, others think it looks like hops. I used photo references to create it.

So I guess my question is, what do you want from me? How do you expect this to play out? Should I make every change suggested? Sorry, I'm just not going to do that. Sorry. I apologize if in the past or future people felt disrespected if I didn't take their suggestion. Please understand it's not personal at all, but you have to know it's next to impossible to make something that everyone is going to love.

I know some here like the design by committee/group thing. Feel free to run with this design and make the changes you would like to see. You won't hurt my feelings. If you feel like it doesn't look like a hop, and I clearly think it does, change my mind. Show me how it's done. Make it better. I can't make the change at this point for the client, but all of us here will have witnessed it and learned something, which is a great thing imho.

Again, I apologize if I've hurt anyone's feelings by making the assumption that some aren't familiar with hops. I wasn't trying to insult anyone's intelligence, but on the other side of the token, consider the fact that i didn't just pull this out of my back pocket and there was quite a bit of back and forth with the client, research, etc, to get the design to this point. No offense to anyone here, but simply spending a few minutes on the thread voicing an opinion, as much as I appreciate it, doesn't just automatically trump all the time and thought that a designer or sign maker who posts here has gone through. Keep the comments coming but don't make it personal when someone doesn't agree with your opinion. It doesn't have to go there and I'm doing my best to make sure it doesn't. Can you do the same on your part?

 

[300mphGraphics]

I think it's beautiful. As I scrolled down the design on the neck jumped out at me and I loved it. I even think the laces are going the right way. With the tee underneath it, it is clearly kick off time (which is of course when you open a fresh beer!!!) and I'm on the receiving team. Nicely done. I'd buy.

 

[Joe Diaz]

 

[J Hill Designs]

for what it's worth I thought it was hops and had no reason to believe itwasn't ​hops

 

[nikdoobs]

I knew it wasn't an artichoke, I was just busting OP's chops. I'm just not that crazy about the bottom label. It looks good but I would have preferred a more minimalistic approach. You pulled off the simplistic wheat/football combo on the bottleneck nicely. I think that was all the football combos you needed. The hop/football combo doesn't do it for me. I would have preferred a 2 or 3 color field with the stadium and goal posts for the bottom label.

All that being said, it's still a very nice design. Good work.

 

[TimToad]

What about what I said was "condescending" Tim? I think you are reading between the lines a bit. I've been nothing but polite. And while I'm sure many of you know what hops look like, there is a real possibility that some do not. That post was addressed to those people, not you. I addressed that early on, I've also walked on egg shells and thought I got in front of this thing by explaining that the job is done and that is the reason I'm not going to change it, I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings by not making every change that is suggested but if it would make some feel better, I can make adjustments just to please those here. I'd rather not though. I think it looks like a hops, others think it looks like hops. I used photo references to create it.

So I guess my question is, what do you want from me? How do you expect this to play out? Should I make every change suggested? Sorry, I'm just not going to do that. Sorry. I apologize if in the past or future people felt disrespected if I didn't take their suggestion. Please understand it's not personal at all, but you have to know it's next to impossible to make something that everyone is going to love.

I know some here like the design by committee/group thing. Feel free to run with this design and make the changes you would like to see. You won't hurt my feelings. If you feel like it doesn't look like a hop, and I clearly think it does, change my mind. Show me how it's done. Make it better. I can't make the change at this point for the client, but all of us here will have witnessed it and learned something, which is a great thing imho.

Again, I apologize if I've hurt anyone's feelings by making the assumption that some aren't familiar with hops. I wasn't trying to insult anyone's intelligence, but on the other side of the token, consider the fact that i didn't just pull this out of my back pocket and there was quite a bit of back and forth with the client, research, etc, to get the design to this point. No offense to anyone here, but simply spending a few minutes on the thread voicing an opinion, as much as I appreciate it, doesn't just automatically trump all the time and thought that a designer or sign maker who posts here has gone through. Keep the comments coming but don't make it personal when someone doesn't agree with your opinion. It doesn't have to go there and I'm doing my best to make sure it doesn't. Can you do the same on your part?

I felt like posts #9, 15 and 16 spoke down to anyone who had expressed any doubts about the identity of the icon. We all can tend to go on the defense when we perceive uninformed or unqualified criticism, but you seem to go there quite often on the rare occasion that a less than gushing opinion of something you've shared is posted. I think you're one of our industry's shining stars, but anybody's work is open to interpretation and analysis if shared in a public forum.

I know instantly when one of the more accomplished designers here posts something and there isn't anything resembling a question "What do you all think?", "How does this look?", etc. you really are just sharing and not inviting a critique or analysis, which is a term I prefer to use. AND JUST SHARING IS OK! I look forward to each and every thing you and anyone else is willing to publish.

I also don't have to have anybody explain to me the time, effort and collaboration involved in going from square one to a finished design piece. I fully appreciate and have experienced all of those considerations.

Having grown, bought and seen my share of hops, I knew they were hops, but just felt like the rendering could have been done better and that would have removed any doubt to even the most uninformed out there.

You're a stud of a signmaker and designer and I thank you for sharing whenever you do.

 

[MikePro]

+1 bottleneck logo is awesome.

 

[Joe Diaz]

I felt like posts #9, 15 and 16 spoke down to anyone who had expressed any doubts about the identity of the icon.

I'm sorry you felt that way. That wasn't the case. I wasn't talking down to anyone. In post #9 I assumed some were joking around and it turns out nikdoobs was: "I knew it wasn't an artichoke, I was just busting OP's chops." #15 was in response to someone who thinks that imagery of ingredients shouldn't be/aren't on labels, I disagree and shared why. #16 was yet another disagreement with someones opinion.

I've never claimed I'm better than anyone here. I'm just posting my work. Based on your last post, you have put me up on this pedestal, and I really do appreciate the compliments but it would make sense that from that imaginary vantage point when I simply voice an opinion it would seem to you like I'm talking down to you and others. But I'm not. I'm just trying to participate on this site just like everyone else here. What am I supposed to do in that case? Not share my thoughts at all? especially when they clash with someone else's? I figure we are all adult enough here to handle some simple disagreements about design.

You point out that you feel I too often "go on the defense" when someone critiques my work. I don't necessarily see it that way. What you are really seeing is my love for what I do and that the decisions I made when designing weren't made lightly. So yeah I will "defend" my decisions if I disagree with someone's opinion, but I wouldn't really call that being defensive. If I feel I can explain why I wanted to use imagery of the ingredients on the label for example, I will, because I enjoy talking about this stuff. I don't enjoy being accused of anything other than that when I do. If I disagree with someone about something, please don't take it personally.

For the record I have changed plenty of designs based on the help I have received here, and I'm very grateful for that. Contrary to popular belief I do like critiques, even the ones I don't agree with. It's all good.

This goes for everyone here: I just want to post my work and talk about the work, not about peoples personal opinion of each other. There is a little too much of that, and I've had to distance myself from it and comeback refreshed ready to talk about signs and designs. I'm soo tired of the personal stuff. I'm not even sure I'm ready to participate in any of the other discussions here because people seem to get upset when I do, and I just don't want to get into it. Just let me post design work, we can talk about that, we can agree, we can disagree, but don't assume anything about me. Let's keep it professional, don't put me up on that pedestal and please just take my words at face value. It will be much simpler that way and we should get along fine.

 

[GAC05]

I can't un-see player's brain zipper comment.
Other than that it looks like a successful project.
Nice going.

wayne k
guam usa

 

[nikdoobs]

This makes me want to try my hand at beer bottle design.

 

[CanuckSigns]

I saw it as a hop straight off the bat and I think that anyone who has any interest in craft beer would as well.

 

[InstantOneMedia]

I think it looks great and I knew immediately that it was a hop as the football though if it's a Colorado beer, it could be confused with a bud which will only help with sales.

 

[shoresigns]

I think the context makes it crystal clear that it's a hop, not an artichoke. I don't think there's much that could have been done to make it look less like an artichoke - hops and artichokes do in fact look very similar, especially when simplified as a drawing for a logo.

As for a constructive comment, my first impression as a craft beer enthusiast, is that the concept doesn't really work and is a bit of a stretch. The hop/football is very clever, but a green hop on the label of a stout is just confusing to me. Stouts are not known for being particularly hoppy and are more identified by dark roasted malts and barley. Not to mention that it would be quite wild and daring to put fresh green hops in a stout.

As a designer, I would agree that it's good to create a design that isn't completely tied to the nature of the product - that's a good way to stand out from the competition - but to me this concept is stretched a little too far and needs just a little more to connect it with the product.

Other than that, it's a beautiful design and I love it when you share your work with us!

 

[Joe Diaz]

The fact that Stouts typically aren't extremely hoppy is exactly why the hops are so in your face on this brand. To let people know what they can expect inside the bottle. Hoppy stouts are less common but aren't unheard of, at least not in more recent times. Foe someone who is familiar with different beers, I would say it's similar to Goose Island's Night Stalker. at least that's what it taste like to me.

I guess the reason I went with the green hop is because usually in advertising the hops are green, so I felt like people recognize them that way. I also felt like green in place of what should be a brown football would draw attention to the strangeness of a hop on a kicking tee. Also green works well with the whole stadium theme. Other colors might appear as though they support one football team over the other. But all teams play on a green field.

 

[dexter]

I couldn't even finish reading the majority of the critique in this thread... everything from brussels sprouts to a brain to not liking a green hop? The laces facing the wrong way? This a beer label not a photo of the Super Bowl kick off. Talk about a bunch nonsense criticism.

Any one who is into craft beer, or even beer in general, will know exactly what that hop is. Whether it is exactly accurate to the colour of hop used to produce the beer is irrelevant.

I'm not going to offer any feedback, not because the job is done and produced, but simply because this is probably some of the best work I've seen posted on this site. Wish I could put my name on it; well done!

 

[MARSERdesigns]

The fact that Stouts typically aren't extremely hoppy is exactly why the hops are so in your face on this brand. To let people know what they can expect inside the bottle. Hoppy stouts are less common but aren't unheard of, at least not in more recent times. Foe someone who is familiar with different beers, I would say it's similar to Goose Island's Night Stalker. at least that's what it taste like to me.

I couldn't agree with you more. This design is more suited for a IPA or Pale Ale.

But commenting on the overall design, I think its a well executed one.

 

[m4ruk4]

...

For what is worth (even almost a year later on this post)

I didn't know what hops are... I never even considered looking for it, after reading all the coming and going in this thread I decided to look for it.

As some one said, you cant keep all the people happy with everything you do. You have to focus on your main goal. YOU CUSTOMER HAS TO LIKE IT.

With that said. I really love that y'all take the time to reply and comment about designs and give your opinion. Is helping me a lot read all the different points of view.

 

[particleman]

The design is awesome, but not what I would expect on a Stout. Just another craft beer snob opinion.