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Thanks for checking out the second issue of SA Beer Label Magazine. Since the last issue, the magazine has changed name, dropping ‘Project’ in favour of ‘Magazine,’ and had a complete overhaul of the masthead. On the inside we've introduced some ‘front matter’ (the bit you're reading), and for some diversity, we've included a review article. This isn't a review of a new beer or label design as you might expect, but rather a review of a mobile game.
s t n e t n o Featured Breweries Bicycle Brewing Co.
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Poison City Brewing
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Tech Review Brew Town
As far as the ‘regular content’ goes, this issue features twice as many breweries! Okay, so that's still only two breweries, but we're still super stoked about it. From opposite sides of SA, Poison City Brewing (Durban) and Bicycle Brewing Co. (Cape Town) both have bold labels that jump out at you on the shelf, but the design of the labels couldn't be more different. The labels of Bicycle Brewing Co. are black-andwhite, rectangular, and incorporate large text for the brewery and beer names. In contrast, Poison City's labels have striking colours, flowing curves, and the use of a noticeably smaller font size for the brewery name compared to the name of the beer. Essentially, we have two completely different design approaches that achieve the same - to sell more beer! If you feel so inclined, you can head on over SA Beer Label Magazine's blog, or one of our social media platforms and leave some feedback, tell us which brewery's labels you'd like to see in a future issue, or send us some hate mail (whatever floats your boat). Cheers!
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s t i d e Cr This issue wouldn't have been possible without the contributions from the brewers and creatives who took the time to answer my questions and willingly shared images of labels, logos, photographs - i.e. almost every image in this magazine! All of the fonts used are free for commercial and personal use. Details relating to attribution, as well as links to download the fonts can be found here. For those interested, here's a list of the fonts used; Lato (cover & p. 8 heading) Liberation Sans (all body text) Lora (captions, pull quotes, etc.) Anthares and Anthares Swash (p.6 headings) Nexa Rust Slab (p.7 heading) BPdotsUnicase (p. 8 banner) 08 Underground, Subway & RapScript (p.7 heading) Cover photograph by Dane Foreman.
sabeerlabels.wordpress.com
6 | April 2018
BICYCLE o BREWING C ¯
Like many South Africans, Sean Friedrich was introduced to independently brewed ‘craft beer’ while on a road trip of the United States. It was during this excursion that Friedrich's outlook on beer was completely changed, and eight years later Bicycle Brewing Co. was launched. To create the brand's identity, Friedrich enlisted the help of graphic designer and childhood friend, Mandy Roberts. Being a passionate cyclist, Friedrich's design brief was simple, “Make it all about bikes and something I can get a tattoo of one day.”
Roberts produced several concepts, but her design of a skull composed of bicycle parts was chosen for the logo. Reminiscent of a Mexican calavera/sugar skull, the idea was to portray the recognizable shape of the human skull in a manner that was approachable, but without distorting the proportions.
The illustration was initially drawn by hand, with each component then being rendered digitally. With even just a slight glance, the design is unmistakably a human skull. Closer inspection reveals more subtle details, such as the clever use of a saddle for the nose, chain links for teeth, and of course the handlebar moustache.
Make it all about BIKES BIKES and something I can get a TATTOO of one day Spoked wheels also feature prominently, with several variations incorporated into elements of the logo and label typography. For example the ‘O’ in Bohemian, and the counters (holes) of the ‘Bs’ on the back of the label (top left in image below). For now, Bicycle Brewing Co. only brews the Bohemian Pilsner, but Friedrich would consider adding a low alcohol, session ale in the style of an American wheat or rye beer in the future. Either of these would be welcome, as both are uncommon styles in South Africa.
CONTACT DETAILS Bicycle Brewing Co.
Mandy Roberts SA Beer Label Mag | 7
TeCH ReVieW
I first came across Brew Town, created by AppBox Media in association with I Fight Bears, when it was in a closed beta phase. It looked interesting, so I signed up to the mailing list. Brew Town is a mobile game that the developers describe as “the world’s foremost craft beer simulator.” It allows you to build your own microbrewery, and grow it into a brewing empire of AB InBev proportions. I spent a few hours playing Brew Town the weekend after it was released. The graphics are bright and cheerful, and there is a lot of detail in each of the 3D building models (such as the drone watering can that tends to the hop plantation). The interface is very intuitive, especially if you have played other tycoon-type games. If you haven’t, a brief tutorial walks you through brewing your first batch of beer. I managed to work my way up to the “Gold Plated Hops” (level 5 of 9), and one of the things I noticed was that due to the simplicity of the game play, it all became quite repetitive. The aspect of Brew Town that appealed to me the most though wasn’t the ability to brew batches of digital beer, but rather to create my own labels.
action, something completely different happens. Getting characters of the same size, orientated correctly, and all precisely aligned takes quite a bit of practice, and is more frustrating than it should be. Adding the drop shadows to my ‘Go To Hells’ label below was a chore. Each letter snapped away from where I intended to place it every time time I lifted my finger. Maybe the experience is different on devices with a larger screen, or perhaps I just have clumsy fingers and need to invest in a stylus.
Left: One of my largest orders to date, half a million bottles of lager. Centre: The label designer interface showing a selection of decals. Right: The most complex design I've created so far, using 31 elements.
The label designer is very powerful, and with 300+ unique elements to choose from, there are almost unlimited possibilities. Each label can consist of up to 100 elements, which include basic geometric shapes, letters, and multicoloured decals. Most of the elements are free to use from the start, but the more detailed ones need to be unlocked using the in-game currency. If you're not feeling creative, “readymade” label options are available. Designing labels has been a great way to pass the time, but the process is quite finicky. I've been playing on an iPhone 5s and the gestures for moving, resizing, and rotating elements are too similar. Writing words in particular has been quite tricky, as often when trying to perform one
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(Centre image courtesy of Brew Town's press kit)
Brew Town is a fun way to whittle away a few hours during your day, but I’m not sure how long the game will hold the most people’s attention span due to the repetitive nature. I’d recommend downloading Brew Town and playing the game for yourself. I have enjoyed spending a couple of hours a day putting together several labels and fulfilling orders of over half a million bottles of lager, but ultimately, the game play is a little too simple and repetitive. I don’t really see myself spending as many hours playing the game next week as I did this week. Overall, I’d give Brew Town a solid four out of five. For more info visit www.brewtowngame.com
p oi s on c ity poison city . brewing . Proudly born and bred in Durban, Poison City Brewing produces beer that personifies the city. Not the fanciful Sunshine City created to attract tourists, but the “real Durban”; the city that makes its own rules, and is not afraid to raise a middle finger to conformity. Co-founders, Graeme Bird and Andre Schubert, “live, surf and dream Durban,” and as of 2015 they have been brewing its beer. The name Poison City Brewing comes from a moniker given to Durban by its denizens, a reference to a strain of cannabis (Durban Poison) that originates from the city. The Durban Poison reference is further alluded to in the logo, which consists of seven surfboards arranged to form the shape
of a cannabis leaf. The use of surfboards is also a nod to the long tradition of surfing in Durban. The brewery's name surrounds the collection of surfboards, and together these are placed over a silhouette of a crown cap. Like the logo, Poison City's labels also incorporate aspects of life in Durban. Created by Johannesburg firm, unagency (previously Tribalfish), the labels feature illustrations by Mario Nobrega of Lincoln Collective.
Photo: Dane Foreman
Founders of Poison City Brewing, Graeme Bird (left) and Andre Schubert (right), show off two of the labels that received awards at the inaugural Beer Label Design Awards held in March 2018.
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Nobrega's work has a distinct ‘grungy’ aesthetic to it, which makes his style the perfect match for the Poison City project. Each drawing started out as quick sketch on paper, before being digitalized. This allowed for the illustration to be completed digitally, while preserving the look of having been hand drawn. Each beer is represented by a different coloured label front, with metallic copper used for the illustrations throughout the range. The label front has an ornamental shape, with the details pertaining to the beer included on wraparound tabs.
The Bird, Poison City Brewing's first beer, is named partly for co-founder Graeme Bird, but also refers the gesture of ‘flipping the bird,’ in this instance aimed at the massproduced, commercial lagers that dominate the South African beer market.
The unusual shape of the label, combined with the use of bold colours and metallic copper produces an eye-catching label that helps Poison City's beers stand out from the competition.
A common sight in Durban, the seagulls ability to survive and flourish in the tough urban environment of the city is testament to its adaptability. For this reason an angry seagull was chosen to represent the lager, and the brand as a whole, demonstrating a resilience and determination to succeed in the competitive craft beer industry.
To add some texture, the labels are printed on linen-style paper stock. This also gives the final product a slightly distressed appearance. Although not visible in the accompanying images, the subtle effect is noticeable in the photographs of the labels (see cover & p. 9).
In 2017 Poison City Brewing switched from 440 ml to 330 ml bottles. As a result, the labels underwent a slight redesign. The most noticeable difference between the old (above) and new (below) label is the change in shape, with the top becoming a straight edge. The logo was increased in size, making it a more prominent feature. The text for the beer's name was decreased in size and was reorientated to follow the top line of the label. While absent from the original 440 ml label, the “Durban Born” statement was added before the switch to the 330 ml bottles, and is not a new addition the 330 ml label.
Recently, the labels received two bronze and two silver awards at the inaugural Beer Label Design Awards held in March 2018. CONTACT DETAILS Poison City Brewing
unagency Lincoln Collective
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The Punk Rocker, an English Pale Ale, was initially intended to have a navy blue and copper label. This was changed to red early in the design process in order to better differentiate it from the rest of the range. An illustration of a mohawked musician about to smash their guitar against the stage fills the front of the label. Reminiscent of the iconic photograph used as the cover artwork for British punk pioneers, The Clash's album London Calling. For the founders of Poison City Brewing, who were raised on punk music, that particular image evokes a feeling of freedom. Nobrega mentioned that the illustration was a challenging one and that he used photographs of his “non-punk” brother as a reference to get the correct proportions for the body of the punk.
The Kiff is a Belgian Witbier that is brewed and released seasonally. The front of the label is a golden yellow, which is close to the colour of the actual beer. ‘Kiff’ is a uniquely South African slang term, used to convey that something is great/cool. According to several dictionaries, ‘kif’ can also be used as an adjective to describe the euphoric condition produced from smoking cannabis, or as a noun to refer to the plant itself. The drawing of the bikini-clad surfer girl, with a board under her arm and hair blowing in the breeze, a lot of fine detail work in the hair and string of the bikini top. Nobrega described it as, “the most challenging piece out of the whole project.”
The most recent addition to the Poison City line-up, The Other Bird is a Czech dark lager. The recipe was developed with award-winning Czech master brewer, Ladislav Vesely. Schubert's tattooed hand ‘giving the finger’ is emblazoned on the label. This image both demonstrates Poison City's sense of humour, and emphasizes the seriousness of this aged lager. This is a beer not to be trifled with. Poison City Brewing | 11
Copyright Š 2018 Luke Norton All images used with permission