My First Label.... Woot!

I know it is by no means as good as a lot of them I see around here, but I'm proud of it. Let me know what ya think.

I like it, though I'm no artist

lol... I'm no artist either. That took me about 2 hours to make. Good thing I had a full pot of coffee to keep me going this morning......

OK, I haven't had very many comments on this so far. So I am thinking folks are trying to be nice (better to say nothing if you have nothing nice to say...lol)

Let me know what ya think, or suggestions to make it better (which I know won't take much....)

I plan on labeling this batch specially for a big Super Bowl party and want it to be the best it can be.

Thanks....

ok i'll give you some feedback, do with it what you will, i'm just trying to help:

Pros:
I love the colors you've chosen! the yellow/gold works well.

I also like the layout, and the shape of the frame for the picture in the center, looks really cool.

Suggestions:

first off i'd make "Uncle Kev's Stout" more prominent, it is, after all, the most important part of the label.

I think the way that the guy in the picture (Uncle Kev?) ends on the right side is awkward looking (i assume it's where the picture you used ended, but you should either extend his shoulder, or crop it better.)

I also think that the way your hops extend all the way to the edge of the label is off-looking too, if it were me, i'd bump the hops in from the border about 5 pixels, and crop the stem so it has the same spacing from your border. (i also like the hops as an element of the label, and would make them larger too)

I'd also use a different font for the black words on either side of the picture in the center, it's hard to read as-is.

Lastly, you've got a lot of dead space, the yellow background specifically, but filling that with a design element without making it look messy would be difficult.



I also suggest you get photoshop if you aren't using it already.

Thanks for the feedback. Let me see what I can do to straighten this up a tad.

Lookin' good! I agree with the above - The only thing I could add - my eyes keep going to picture of the state of Texas. I know this is a tribute to your Uncle Kev and I think his picture should be the attention grabber not the state of Texas.

I like it as it is, but I agree with the comments USFbulls made and think they will make it even better. Also, if there is significance for the selection of brewing a stout, I think I'd highlight that as well. For example, if stout was Uncle Kev's favorite, I'd add some text to that effect. I like homebrew lables that give as much information as possible.

Maveric,

GREAT JOB! I think this will do the job just great at your party.

IF you get a chance to download virtual painter 5 (it's free for 32 uses,) you'll get lots of great filters (I know I've plugged VP5 a bunch already, but it's VERY easy to use, which is important if your real interest is what's INSIDE the bottle!) which you can apply to the interior of the label (the picture of Uncle Kev.) As is, I REALLY like that you didn't just throw up an unaltered picture - it makes the whole label look a lot better.

IF you can move the picture so he's being cropped entirely by the seal, and there's no right angle, that might be a good change. I don't mind the size of the name, but bigger wouldn't hurt. If you could give Texas a dropshadow it might nicely offset it (since it's the only red image.) Maybe move "Family Brewing" up a line, since "to Bean" looks lonely.

Some great little touches that really make the whole thing better: (1) the gold border is shaded at the corners, (2) the seal is PERFECTLY symmetrical, (3) the gold color will look good against the brown of the bottle, (3) the hops are a nice touch.

I'd drink this.

Well, I am just about sick. I read up on everyone's suggestions (which where all great by the way) then jumped into working on my label immediately after dinner. I had roughly 3 hours in on the updated label when the unthinkable happened.

The damn program froze on me, and I lost it all!

So now I am off to bed with absolutely nothing to show for my evening efforts. Talk about pissed the hell off....

Lesson learned "SAVE OFTEN!"

I feel for you- Almost happened to me when I was working on mine (windows update notification and too many projects in Adobe PS CVS3 unsaved). I was luck though, only a 3ish second freakout. Have a good one buddy!

Got back after it this morning and just wanted to show yall some of the changes I made so far. I am going to add the text (I am changing the font) tonight when I get home. Just wanted to get some opinions on the changes I made so far.

I changed the font on Uncle Kev's Stout, and made it larger (to stand out more). I added color behind his image to help stand it out a tad as well. I cleaned up around his image as well, and darkened the outline a tad to show more definition. I also repositioned the hops in the corners. I outlined the Texas map so it would not wash into the white. There is a some other "This and That's" I did to numerous to remember...lol

Thanks for any input......


First Attempt




Updated

I like it - looks good.

Great improvements- Keep up the good work!

Thanks for all the words of encouragement and support on this everyone. Think I may have most the bugs worked out on it. What do yall think of the updated version?

I'm thinking about the hops in the corner like that- picturing it on a round beer glass... You'll see them all together on the back with how wide it is (I think). I like how they look on here, just thinking on bottle would change the aesthetics a lot.

Ahhh never thought of that. I am going to print one out today and see what it does. I may have to change the size or move the hops around a tad if they bunch up to much. Either that or turn it into two labels (logo/image front and text on back). I am getting a tad faster now so it isn't near as much of a hassle....lol

Yeah, the hops will probably look strange all bunched together in the back. I definitely like the hops though because it makes the whole label look more elegant. Maybe try to find a way to shrink them and fit them around the center circle? Also, the latest font looks the best IMO because the first revision looked like Rev and not Kev. Keep up the good work, it's getting better with each revision!

Now that's a cool idea there Jared. I am going to play around with the two image setup tonight (front/back) & move the hops around a tad. I am thinking if I make the front smaller and shrink the hops a bit that may clean that issue up (I think I could also add 12oz and abv% as well to the front). Then I'll just use the border from the front and add the info/text on the back... Maybe even put the hops in its corner as well so it won't be to plain looking

Thanks for the input bro.....

Mav, much nicer.

I like the hops how they are, but maybe previous posters are right about them being bunched up at the back.

Love the work you did with Kev's picture, much better cropping and just the solid orange background makes it look much better.

The text is much cleaner, and i like the bolder black heading.

great for a first label, the more you play around the better you'll get.

Thanks USF! I have spent a "TON" of time on this label trying to get it as good as I get could get it. It is going to be for a very good cause IMO. I can wait to see the look on my bro's face come Super Bowl Sunday....

I did go back today and fixed the date (It's stated "Brewed on 12/72/08....lol) and added a period where needed in the text. I also printed a test label earlier and the size is perfect as it is. The back didn't get close enough to make the hops bunch up at all on the back like I feared it would (which I was very glad it didn't...lol)

I again want to thank everyone for the feedback I received on this "Special Project" I been working on. Can't wait to throw up some pics of the party to for everyone!

Couldn't stand it any longer. I had to go back and redo the label.... Yet again...lol

Just wanted to throw up my final attempt. Think I may just stick with this one. It's weird looking back at the first one and seeing how it has progressed. I went with a front and back set up on this one. I don't see me doing this for all my brews, but this one is kind of special to me.

Let me know what yall think....

I really like it

Nice job I tried to make some labels, one took me forever... now I just sit back and look at other peoples labels

Limited Visibility said:

Nice job I tried to make some labels, one took me forever... now I just sit back and look at other peoples labels

Click to expand...

Thanks Limited! This one was one of the fastest ones I made so far (only about 4 hours combined...lol) It takes a while to get use to what ever program you are using. Once you learn some short cuts you can shave a lot of time off making them. Seems like I am learning something new every day on GIMP. Take for instance this morning.... Before, when I wanted to use image but not the background I would use the eraser and do it the long and hard way. Just this morning I learned there was a "Paint To Alpha" tool that I could have been using. So basically what would take me 30 minutes to do (I'm really anal about getting it all out as best I can) with eraser.... I can now do with one click. I was glad and pissed off all in one big ball this morning when I discovered it....lol

I really like that last one! Best by far.

I think it looks good!

Nice choice on using two labels for 1 bottle

Now that you've spent all this time designing it, don't cheap out
on the printing!

(unless you have a nice printer, of course)

Go to Kinko's and have them print it behind the desk on some nice
paper. They do it by the sheet so stack as many as you can on
an 8x11 sheet. Tell them not to scale it!

Making sure to leave a 1/2 inch border around the edge of the sheet.

If you use a low quality laser or inkjet printer, I can see all your
delicate transparencies getting washed out

If you're wondering how to affix them to bottles, rubber cement
applied correctly (not wetting and sticking it on) works great.

Good luck!

Thanks 0202! We don't have a Kinko's here locally so I'm out of luck on that one. I called Insty Prints, but they want 10 bucks just to open an E-Mail, thumb drive, or CD. I said piss on that and called around some more. I found a printing place close to the house that wont charge me that dumb extra fee and will help me get the labels set right. Whats cool is I explained what I was doing to the owner, and thought it was cool as hell. So he is on board with me getting these bad boys set up.

Thanks for the advice!

Excellent!

That's what a printer is SUPPOSED to do. Work with the client.

I print mine on my color laser - looks very professional! I highly suggest you get one.

I like the label with the 2 seperate pieces. Are you going to print this on paper and glue it on? I use avery lables 6/sheet (5164). They turn out perfect for bottles. Avery also sells just a full sheet label so you could print any size and then cut it out.

BTW: My wife's maiden name is "Bean" - I think she has relatives from TX also.

Good Works!

Damn I wish I had a color laser

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

That's pretty cool Slip. I plan to glue these on with some form of glue opposed to using the milk on this particular one. I know there are going to be folks at the party who may want a bottle as a "Keep Sake" and don't expect to get some bottles back. Which is cool with me that folks would want to keep one as a silveneer.

I have a really nice photo printer at home, but to get it back up and running I would need to drop around $80 bucks on a cable, ink, and paper. That's brew money!.....lol

Right now with the local printing company willing to work with me I am going to try that first. I can label a case of brew using their equipment for under 5 bucks. Plus I heard those color copiers don't run. So that is a big plus as well.

That's cool your wife has kin folks down here. There are a few of us Beans running around, but not many. Only two different Bean familys here in my town. Well, as far as I know...lol

I do know I am related to "Judge Roy Bean".... Thought about incorporating that into my logo, but wasn't sure about how to go about it.

Well, today was the big day to unveil this label (and brew) I made to my bro. Turns out I feel like I just hit one out of the park. First off want to thank everyone who chimed in and helped me out on this one. I made this label at least 8 times over trying to get it right (looking back now I would do it different....yet again...lol)..... Thanks to yall it was way better than I could have done alone.

I just wanted to do a follow up and give yall a pic of the night. I had a great evening at the Super Bowl party, and being able to bring a smile to my bro's face with this brew was most definitely the highlight of the night for me.

Thanks yall....

I'm glad it helped bring a bit of happiness on what I'm sure was a rough day.