Interesting label assignment

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

anderj

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2007
Messages
331
Reaction score
5
Location
Boise, ID
I am the organizer of the "treasure valley organic homebrew challenge" a little homebrew contest that we throw here in Boise, ID. One of the cool things about our contest aside from it being all organic, is that the winning recipe is brewed by a (well, two actually) local brewery and sold to the public. One of the requirements of the GABF-PROAM (the beers ultimate destination) is that it has to be commercially available before GABF registration. So, out of the deal we realized that we need tap handle labels and bottle labels to get this stuff out on the shelf here in town. I volunteered to be the artist and the deadline is not too far off. I thought that I would put my preliminary designs out for comment. Tell me what you think, also there will be a back label will all of the pregnancy and machinery warnings and maybe some beer nerd stuff as well.
Thanks for any input.
-ander
BIRKENSTOCK.jpg
 
Neat, but it hurts my eyes. mostly just trying to read the Birkenstock.
But nothing says organic/hippy like BirkenstocK! Maybe it wouldn't be so bad when actauly label sized.


*edit* just opened it in gimp and it's not bad at all on the eyes when viewed smaller. PLus it won't be as bright on bottles. *

I Like
 
I think the concept is cool (kinda hippy which is what your looking for), but I agree the color is a bit offensive. I would back off of the hop background brightness a bit.
 
I think the harsh color is a result of the image file being in RGB mode. It won't print like that and once it's converted to CMYK the colors will be muted
 
Nice label! I love the loud colors and the birkenstock. Here's my 2 cents on how you can make tiny changes so the label really stands out:
organicpaleale_comments.jpg

1. Make the Birkenstock BIGGER. This is the focal point of the label. It doesn't need to stay within the red part of the label.
2. Make the text "birkenstock" bolder. With the loud and very constrasting colors, it can easily get lost in the background.
3. The relationship between the Birkenstock and the "organic pale ale" text is a bit awkward. I'd switch them up like above so it works better.
4. Possibly add a black outline on the top and bottom of the red space of the label to help it stand out and it helps with image repetition (since all the text has outlines).
5. Text alignment, position. I'd shrink the "birkenstock" text a bit so there's a an equal border around it and so it's not slammed up right to the edge of the background.
6. Also, have the "k" in birkenstock lined up with right edge of the "organic pale ale" text, and the "b" in birkenstock lined up with the outer edge of the heel of the birkenstock image. Also, have equal red space above and below the "organic pale ale" text.
7. You may want to bring the dot of the "i" in organic closer to the text, it's kind of hanging way out in the middle of nowhere.
8. Last, maybe frame the image with a border (white border is shown, but another color may work better).
Cheers,
:mug:
organicpaleale_comments2.jpg
 
I think that to go with the whole "organic" and "berkenstock" feel, the colors should stay around the nutrial earthy colors, instead of the irradiated greens and reds of the current label. imho.
 
I like, I like
Because the brewery that is brewing the initial bottle release bottles by hand (and labels by hand) the brewmaster gave me the nix on the back label, hard to line up and 2X the work. He wants to put all of the info on one label. Here is where it is at now.
BIRKENSTOCKV2.jpg

as far as this "I think that to go with the whole "organic" and "berkenstock" feel, the colors should stay around the nutrial earthy colors, instead of the irradiated greens and reds of the current label. imho."

I agree to a point but I don't know if a muted brown/olive green label is the best way to go. Look at Fishtail's organic labels, they seem to jump off of the shelf and into my shopping basket. Dechutes went muted on their green lakes organic and I don't think their label is all that great.Also, even though the birkenstock is pushing the hippy organic relationship (the winning brewer chose the name) I feel that organics and organic advocacy needs to take a step away from those stereotypes. The entire movement isn't about dancing like a wet noodle and smoking hash, it is about water quality, and many other environmental effects that commercial farming has on the land. Not just hippies and health nut are into organics, look at the master Papazian himself.
Sorry for the rant
-ander
 
Back
Top