HP Innovation Journal Special Edition: Retail Transformation | Page 17

CANVAS ON A CAN
The art of designing craft beer labels
JESSICA MISENER
If you’ve strolled through a gourmet beer shop or down a
craft beer aisle recently, you’ve no doubt seen the color-
ful rows of labels that practically jump off the shelf. IPA
cans that could double as comic book covers. Sleek silver
tallboys speckled with digital gemstones. Jagged medieval
typefaces promising the Goth-est of stouts. It’s a master
class in graphic design that would look right at home on
your cool friend’s Instagram or in an arty print magazine.
Today’s craft beer labels are more than just mere identi-
fiers. The innovative designs often tell their own visual
stories about the beers and the breweries themselves. And
much like the dankest Citra hop, they’re designed to grab
your full attention, whether it’s on your tongue or on a
crowded shelf.
THE NEW BEER BOOM
Craft beer is experiencing, well, a bit of a bubble. The
Brewers Association, a nonprofit trade group, defines
American craft brewers as small, independent and
traditional. To meet these criteria, a craft brewer must
produce six million barrels of beer or less annually, not
be more than 25 percent corporately owned, and produce
beverages that are mostly brewed from traditional beer
ingredients like hops. This includes some of the biggest
players like New Belgium and Cigar City, as well as pint-
sized nanobreweries, which produce fewer than 10 barrels
per batch. These American craft brewers infused $76.2
billion into the U.S. economy in 2017.
The Brewers Association reports that around 6,500 craft
breweries are currently operating in the United States.
Consumers seem to be craving the more authentic vibe
that craft beers—and their warehouse-style brewpubs—
offer. And from Hawaii to Vermont, small-batch brewers
and barrels are booming. In a 2018 survey, 49 percent of
men and 31 percent of women said they drink craft beer.
Consumers today know the difference between a witbier
and an English brown ale, and breweries are focusing on
catering to a discerning craft beer drinker who knows her
hops inside and out.
THE ART OF THE LABEL
How do you differentiate between all those microbrew
batches and special releases? Craft brewing transformed
the landscape of the beer industry, and it’s also changed
the way beer is marketed. Craft beer labels have become
an art form in and of themselves, with fervent fanbases
to boot—unopened bottles have even become in-demand
collectors’ items. There are Instagram accounts devoted
to the art of the coolest beer packaging. Sleek coffee table
books brimming with close-up label portraits. And even a
bona fide beer-label art show.
Brewhouses are hiring professional graphic artists to
design unique, exquisitely crafted labels for their products.
Artists interpret the beer’s ingredients, name and style
into a work of art that can be printed and placed on a can
or bottle to entice consumers and communicate what
they’re about to drink.
“Craft beer has taken beer labeling and
design into a new place,” says Julia
Herz, program director of the Brewers
Association. “Before we just had the
big global conglomerates with their
spin on product marketing. There's a
lot more authenticity going on in the
craft beer labels that we see now.”
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