{"id":33493,"date":"2016-12-15T07:00:45","date_gmt":"2016-12-15T07:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/?p=33493"},"modified":"2016-12-15T07:32:20","modified_gmt":"2016-12-15T07:32:20","slug":"see-no-evil-design-craft-beer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/see-no-evil-design-craft-beer\/","title":{"rendered":"See No Evil: Design in Craft Beer"},"content":{"rendered":"

They say you should never judge a beer by its cover, well close enough, but these days that is much easier said than done. The truth is that with an ever expanding line up of craft on the shelves, we drink with our eyes first, and most of us are drawn to what looks appealing. Great design makes a beer stand out, it raises the bar, and sets the standard for other brands to measure themselves against. <\/span><\/p>\n

Creativity and design are fast becoming a focus of the more savvy breweries. They have embraced the fact that the visual bridge between brewery and beer drinker needs to be both considered and awesome. <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Your beer could be delicious but if it looks like it was designed by your cousin\u2019s cousin who\u2019s killing it in first year design, complete with low-res hoppy clip art and a barley wreath, well… there\u2019s a good chance that it\u2019s going to be ignored. <\/span><\/p>\n

Thankfully we live in a time that\u2019s moved away from Times New Roman and ribbon banners. A time of educated beer drinkers who want a beer that delivers on all fronts. <\/span><\/p>\n

They want the complete package, and if it says \u201cLucifer’s Ingrown Toenail Imperial IPA\u201d, it better look like it was brewed in a cauldron, and make me think twice about taking a sip.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is what separates strong brands from weak ones. Strong brands have strong identities and this is where good design is born. It\u2019s not just design for the sake of design, it\u2019s concept driven design, and ideas are powerful things. If a brewery can get all of these things right, they\u2019ll have people reaching for their hard earned cash in a heartbeat. In this new series that we\u2019ve dubbed \u2018SEE NO EVIL\u2019, we\u2019ll be focusing on design in craft and what we like about it. To kick things off we\u2019re starting with a few classics so let\u2019s get to it! \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our Expert-ish Panel:<\/b><\/p>\n

Matthew Ibbotson: The owner of Crush Online. Graphic designer, foodie, stylist, photographer, and beer lover.<\/span><\/p>\n

Greg Gilowey: The industrial designer half of Beer Country. Fire maker, meat griller, beer hooligan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Karl Tessendorf: The copywriter half of Beer Country. Flame tamer, burger obsessive, professional drinker.<\/span><\/p>\n

And Union Friday IPA<\/b><\/p>\n

\"and<\/div><\/div>\n

Greg: Simple, bold, premium and cooler than Samuel L. Jackson with his BMF wallet. And Union redefined beer packaging before South Africa even knew it was a thing. At that stage, these guys were kicking-off the craft revolution, and had people asking \u201cis it a beer?\u201d. You bet your custom Caf\u00e9 Racer it is, and a damn tasty 500ml at that. I want it now.<\/span><\/p>\n

Karl: And Union describe themselves as a \u2018Modernist Bavarian Craft Brewer\u2019 and this is about as modern as it comes. So simple, so elegant, and very clever. It\u2019s got one strong colour, which echoes the colour of the beer, and it\u2019s anchored by one word, Friday. Who doesn\u2019t like Friday? I\u2019ve seen people buy into this beer purely because it\u2019s called Friday, and that is clever thinking right there. It has standout appeal and you can\u2019t mistake it for anyone but And Union. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Matt: It\u2019s simple, it\u2019s balanced, it\u2019s crafted and it\u2019s called Friday! This pack design, in its, simplicity perfectly portrays what the craft beer movement in South Africa should be all about. Cutting away all the crap and enjoying a simple, honest product with such underlying style. It\u2019s a brave design and tells the potential beer drinker more with it\u2019s well balanced choice of Sans Serif than a million, overused, mechanical photoshop filters could ever do.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jack Black\u2019s Lumberjack Amber Ale<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Lumber<\/div><\/div>\n

Greg: Skull, beard, axe, checked shirt in a forest \u2013 take my money! I am a sucker for great design that doesn\u2019t take itself too seriously and this one is a classic. It was the first beer that made me grab it before I even knew what was in the bottle, which as it turns out, was my second favorite Amber (second only to my daughter).<\/span><\/p>\n

Karl: Jack Black\u2019s have always had an American identity and what\u2019s more American than a lumberjack? Why is it a skull? Who cares! It looks awesome and when you throw in a sweet beard, well, it just makes it even cooler. It paints a scene and it makes me feel like this is the beer I should be drinking after a hard day’s work. Jack Black\u2019s was also one of the first to print straight onto the bottle which adds texture and solves the problem of labeling and labels coming off in an ice bucket. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Matt: Open mountains and hard physical labour in a checked shirt- that certainly is the tale behind a lot of craft beers. The textured illustration, strong two colour palette and bold, stacked old school type faces make this an authentic craft beer design. It\u2019s hard and rugged and if it came with a ten pound axe or chainsaw it might be perfect.<\/span><\/p>\n

Devil\u2019s Peak King\u2019s Blockhouse IPA<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Devils<\/div><\/div>\n

Greg: This was the first beer that spoke to me, literally, with a little message on the side of the bottle that says, \u201cI am not a Beer as you know it, but a Beer as it should be\u201d. Add to that the awesome illustration topped with a serious dose of local naming inspiration, and you\u2019ve got me, I\u2019m in. It\u2019s a little harder to read these days on the 330 ml, but in those first 500 ml dumpy-days, it was big, bold and incredible \u2013 just like the beer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Karl: I\u2019m a sucker for illustration and the original line up of Devil\u2019s Peak beers are still my favourite labels. They are like opening a story book that\u2019s filled with intricate detail. The design carries right around the bottle and there are little surprises all over the place. For me this is a sign of well thought out design that stands out. King\u2019s Blockhouse has been the complete package benchmark for many years and it\u2019s easy to see why they won a Loerie Award for design. <\/span><\/p>\n

Matt: This is what you call crafted design. From the fine illustrated elements to the detailed choice and weight of fonts.The classic black and white etching set against the contemporary blue gives it punch on a crowded shelf. This design gives me the feeling of time \u2013 when letters were set in printers trays and leading was created with real lead and not a click of button. Some things need to be crafted and this beer and its label certainly were.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They say you should never judge a beer by its cover, well close enough, but these days that is much easier said than done. The truth is that with an ever expanding line up of craft on the shelves, we drink with our eyes first, and most of us are drawn to what looks appealing. Great design makes a beer stand out, it raises the bar, and sets the standard for other brands to measure themselves against. Creativity and design […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4582,4098],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brand-page","category-general"],"acf":[],"brand_slug":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/69"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33493\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}