I love beer. And, as a designer I get really inspired by beer label design. Beer label design is about the closest you can get to fine art in commercial design. No other labels in a store have such a variety of illustrative elements, typography and craftsmanship. It has always been a dream of mine to ‘tap’ into this industry and slowly but surely, my beer label career is finally starting to take off!

It all started with a design contest I won a couple of years back for Rogue Brewery. This led to another label contest for Snoqualmie Brewery and then I recently had the privilege of designing and illustrating the 30th Anniversary Double Pale Ale, for Hale’s Ales in Seattle.

Mike Hale, the owner, didn’t give a lot of direction for the design except for one important thing – “the 30 year anniversary is symbolized by pearls.” After a lot of brainstorming, Lisa and I came up with the idea of a nautical theme which features two mermaids sharing a necklace of pearls. The finished piece turned out great and the beer…. is absolutely amazing.

The Beer won GOLD at the Tacoma Craft Beer Festival under the “specialty ales” at the Tacoma Craft Beer Festival. You can order a pint at either Hale’s restaurant, or at one of the below Seattle retail outlets. Cheers Hale’s! Happy 30th!

Now, I’m in the middle of designing the labels for Snoqualmie Brewery. Keep a lookout for Wildcat and Copperhead on the shelves!

Coming soon is Harvest Moon, SteamTrain and more! Let me just say, I LOVE MY JOB!!