New Cans at Steam Hollow Brewing Co.

Designing a new packaging line for Steam Hollow Brewing Co. in Manteno, IL is very rewarding for me. A ton of thought went into designing this new beer label especially when they give you artistic freedom. They basically said, "We don't know what we want but we want it awesome. No pressure!" Talk about pressure, I was so nervous it would flop, then I realized that I got into a rhythm. Theme, material, and readability are what can make or break a beer brand. The truth is if you never heard of a certain beer you tend to pick a beer based on graphics. Yes, the style of beer has a factor for sure but if you have a crappy label you subconsciously think of a crappy beer. I started with 2 solid crowler designs (one vintage and one clean) and presented them on fancy large scale prints like what you would see at a big agency. Owners sat there looking at it for a while ( I'm sitting in suspense thinking they hate it) and finally Blane said: "they love them and they love them so much they couldn't choose which one." They decided to do a run with both labels. It was such a relief to know that they loved the work I created. Since then we have created about ten beer labels together. Below are some photos of the work done.