The Craft Brewers' Creative

The Craft Brewers' Creative

By Jenna SteeleSociety & Culture
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The Craft Brewers' Creative episodes

  • Jen Borror of Hoot Design Studio: Why your talented artists' work gets bungled at canning time

    In this episode of The Craft Brewers' Creative, Jenna is joined by Illustrator Jen Borror of Hoot Design Studio. Jen has had her art featured on beer cans for Monument City Brewing, 1623 Brewing, and Telluride Brewing Co.

    KEY TAKEAWAYS

    • A graphic designer and an illustrator have two different sets of skills. An illustrator draws the art and the graphic designer does the layout and branding.
    • Most breweries will use both a graphic designer and an illustrator but Hoot Design Studio do both.
    • Jen recommends new breweries work with an experienced graphic designer rather than an artist. There is so much more that goes into the can than just the art. How does it all fit? What font will grab attention? How should the file be formatted to wrap around the can?
    • If a file isn't formatted properly when it goes to the printer, they will charge you more to fix it.
    • A brewer has put time and money into making their beer, and they're trusting the designer to sell what they have made. Does it represent what's in the can? Does it make people want to pick it up off the store shelf?

    BEST MOMENTS

    ‘I'm not just and artist, I'm a graphic designer too, I can do this whole label'

    ‘It's a visual taste for what people expect to find when the open the can'

    ‘Freaky Fish! That is so fun, one of my favorites, from Telluride'

     

    VALUABLE RESOURCES

    hootdesignstudio.com

    instagram.com/hootdesignstudio

    monumentcitybrewing.com

    instagram.com/monumentcitybrewing

    1623brewing.com

    instagram.com/1623brewing

    telluridebrewingco.com

    instagram.com/telluridebrewing

    ABOUT THE HOST

    Jenna Steele fell in love with the craft beer industry while studying hospitality at Cornell University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration. In one of her courses, she was able to try countless craft beers, from across the US, in every style. Though the beer was good, the can art stood out. She wanted to know more about how the cans came to be.

    Jenna's love for craft beer is primarily due to beers and breweries' creative and visual elements. Got cool can designs? Heck yeah.

    After working in finance for a couple of years, Jenna returned to her love of craft beer. She wanted to hear the stories behind can names and designs, brewers' backgrounds, breweries, and hear from label artists themselves. So, she took it upon herself to start The Craft Brewers' Creative under her Craft brand, Beer Can Lover.

    On The Craft Brewers' Creative, Jenna interviews brewers, graphic designers, marketing managers, creative directors, owners, and everyone in between about themselves and the beers they bring alive.

    You can find Jenna and her craft beer content on Instagram @beercanlover

    If you want to contact Jenna, email [email protected]

     

     

     

     

     

    This show was brought to you by Progressive Media


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 9 min
  • Red Hare Brewing and Distilling: Trading labor for beer, Lambic ice-cream sundaes and respecting the industry

    In this episode Jenna visits The Marietta Taproom to share good beer and conversation with Frank Settle and Michael Danahy of Red Hare Brewing and Distilling. Michael is the Senior Marketing manager at Red Hare and Frank is their beer can designer and owner of his own company Intent Graphics. Pour yourself a Long Day Lager and join the conversation on what counts as a craft beer, how Red Hare create their beer and cans, and what's the difference between a milkshake and a smoothie.

    KEY TAKEAWAYS

    • Red Hare was the first craft brewery in GA to can beer.
    • Lambic beers are great poured over vanilla ice cream.
    • Learning about fine wine makes it easier to find good cheap wine.
    • Michael Danahy can rap Dostoevsky.
    • Without Country Boy Brewing and West Sixth Brewing Co, Michael would not be as passionate about craft beer as he is today.
    • Frank got into graphic design under the tutorage of Blizzard Entertainment's Ely Cannon.
    • Is there a point of popularity where craft beer stops being craft beer?
    • Sweet Water used to let people who volunteered at their tap room take as much beer as they could carry home with them.
    • The art should reflect the style of the brewery and the flavor profile of the beer.
    • In creating a beer first, you come up with a beer, then come up with a name, then design the can.
    • Puns can play into the design of a can if that fits the personality of the brewer.

    BEST MOMENTS

    ‘I went from the bucket shop to fine dining overnight'

    ‘If the juice sucks, then it doesn't matter what's in the can'

    ‘Microphones and headphones should be on the table for every social conversation ever! I can hear you so well' 

    ‘I was reading Crime and Punishment for AP lit and instead of a speech I asked the teacher if I could do a rap'   

    ‘You cannot fault a company for being successful. Micro to macro'

    VALUABLE RESOURCES

    redharebrewing.com

    Red Hare on Instagram @redharebrewing

    Michael's Instagram @michaeljdanahy

    Frank's Instagram @intent_graphics

    Intentgraphics.com

    ABOUT THE HOST

    Jenna Steele fell in love with the craft beer industry while studying hospitality at Cornell University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration. In one of her courses, she was able to try countless craft beers, from across the US, in every style. Though the beer was good, the can art stood out. She wanted to know more about how the cans came to be.

    Jenna's love for craft beer is primarily due to beers and breweries' creative and visual elements. Got cool can designs? Heck yeah.

    After working in finance for a couple of years, Jenna returned to her love of craft beer. She wanted to hear the stories behind can names and designs, brewers' backgrounds, breweries, and hear from label artists themselves. So, she took it upon herself to start The Craft Brewers' Creative under her Craft brand, Beer Can Lover.

    On The Craft Brewers' Creative, Jenna interviews brewers, graphic designers, marketing managers, creative directors, owners, and everyone in between about themselves and the beers they bring alive.

    You can find Jenna and her craft beer content on Instagram @beercanlover

    If you want to contact Jenna, email [email protected]

    This show was brought to you by Progressive Media


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 39 min
  • An IT guy, musician, and barista walk into a brewery... - Living Waters Brewing

    Ryan McCay owner of Living Waters Brewing in East Nashville talks with Jenna about bringing together craft beer and coffee and creating a great taproom experience.

    They discuss the importance of getting the branding right reflecting both taking beer seriously to sharing the fun of the design and illustration.

    Ryan also explains the origin of the names for Living Water beers and the design process and illustration of the animals that appear on the cans and reveals whether the beer of the design comes first.

    This episode is brought to you by the new book, ‘The World's Greatest Backyard Games' from Yard Games World.

    Find the book at yardgamesworld.com

    Follow Yard Games World on Instagram here.

    KEY TAKEAWAYS

    • I've been a little bit of everywhere in the world so have tasted a lot of beers but knew what I wanted my beer to taste like
    • In Texas, we are able to serve beer all the time with the exception of 2 hours early in the morning
    • We have brought coffee together with craft beer
    • All our beers are named after bodies of water such as rivers and waterfalls
    • We wanted to focus on a good taproom experience and focused on there being a good relaxed vibe
    • We are a little strange and a bit scientific so the murals on the building reflect that
    • From a branding perspective we wanted to share that we take beer seriously
    • I spent hours researching the science behind the beers
    • Although beers are great fun it's also important to get the right balance with the science behind it
    • Our design work is focused on creatures and I usually come up with the concepts and then our illustrator works with us to produce the can art
    • Most of our can art comes after the beer and we are really focused on single-origin so we try and tie it to the area.

    BEST MOMENTS

    ‘Mostly it's ‘this is the beer' and finding a design that matches with it'

    ‘We have made a commitment that if it's not good we won't pump it and that's our mantra

    ‘We want to keep it small but continue to experiment'

    ‘I want to be known for our beers and our stouts and our quality

    VALUABLE RESOURCES

    [email protected]

    Living Waters Brewing

    Instagram @LivingWatersBrewing

    ABOUT THE HOST

    Jenna Steele fell in love with the craft beer industry while studying hospitality at Cornell University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration. In one of her courses, she was able to try countless craft beers, from across the US, in every style. Though the beer was good, the can art stood out. She wanted to know more about how the cans came to be.

    Jenna's love for craft beer is primarily due to beers and breweries' creative and visual elements. Got cool can designs? Heck yeah.

    After working in finance for a couple of years, Jenna returned to her love of craft beer. She wanted to hear the stories behind can names and designs, brewers' backgrounds, breweries, and hear from label artists themselves. So, she took it upon herself to start The Craft Brewers' Creative under her Craft brand, Beer Can Lover.

    On The Craft Brewers' Creative, Jenna interviews brewers, graphic designers, marketing managers, creative directors, owners, and everyone in between about themselves and the beers they bring alive.

    You can find Jenna and her craft beer content on Instagram @beercanlover

    CONTACT DETAILS

    Beercanlover Instagram

    This show was brought to you by Progressive Media


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 1 min
  • Designing the Fun Stuff with Graphic Designer Daniel Birch

    Daniel Birch is an award-winning designer who specializes in producing graphics for beer labels and in this episode talks to Jenna about the design process and how he got his break designing labels for craft beers.

    They discuss in detail the design process and some of the designs Daniel really loves and why in this fascinating insight into the work of a specialist designer producing unique artwork for craft beers. Listen in and find out more.

     

    KEY TAKEAWAYS

    • When I push back on a design they listen to me because they trust me.
    • Sometimes with a series of beers, the colors are what bring it together.
    • When changing the logo it's been about updating it but keeping the aspects that are recognizable.
    • Some awesome beers don't have great designs on their labels.
    • The art is definitely something I look at on any beer can.
    • Every brewery has its own identity and it's the art cans that share the message with people.
    • When I started out my goal was to do beer labels and I've achieved that with Barrier.
    • It can be a quick turnaround when you are creating a label for craft beers.
    • I still do everything by hand if I can when I'm creating designs.
    • In design, the fun stuff is the craft beers and the Art is such an important element of craft beer.
    • The craft beer community is very tight-knit. The community is great for making connections and I get new work from people I've met along the way.
    • I'm constantly trying to promote people who are great in the craft beer space.
    • If I'm drinking a beer I want people to know so I want the beer to match the glassware.

     

     

    BEST MOMENTS

    ‘I do have favorite beers and favorite labels but they usually aren't the same thing'

    ‘Changing the lettering made it easier to read but less cool overall'

    ‘It's been nice to see more hardcore design fans'

     

    VALUABLE RESOURCES

    [email protected]

    Daniel Birch

    DFBirch Instagram 

     

    ABOUT THE HOST

    Jenna Steele fell in love with the craft beer industry while studying hospitality at Cornell University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration. In one of her courses, she was able to try countless craft beers, from across the US, in every style. Though the beer was good, the can art stood out. She wanted to know more about how the cans came to be.

    Jenna's love for craft beer is primarily due to beers and breweries' creative and visual elements. Got cool can designs? Heck yeah.

    After working in finance for a couple of years, Jenna returned to her love of craft beer. She wanted to hear the stories behind can names and designs, brewers' backgrounds, breweries, and hear from label artists themselves. So, she took it upon herself to start The Craft Brewers' Creative under her Craft brand, Beer Can Lover.

    On The Craft Brewers' Creative, Jenna interviews brewers, graphic designers, marketing managers, creative directors, owners, and everyone in between about themselves and the beers they bring alive.

    You can find Jenna and her craft beer content on Instagram @beercanlover

     

    CONTACT DETAILS

    Beercanlover Instagram

     

     

    This show was brought to you by Progressive Media


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    37 min
  • Working Together -  3 Sons Brewing Co.

    Alex Reyes, Sales and Marketing Manager at 3 Sons Brewing in Dania Beach, FL talks about their labels, cans and going from concept to launch with a new craft beer.

    With two new beers a week 3 Sons Brewing company are a brewery that prides itself on innovation and pushing the boundaries for craft beer.

    Listen in and hear about how their branding is created and why the visual look of a beer is crucial in driving marketing on Instagram.

     

    KEY TAKEAWAYS

    • We take inspiration for our designs from songs and particular things we like.
    • As a small business, we make some cool looking beers and capitalizing on the look on Instagram is key.
    • Instagram really drives marketing for breweries
    • Producing a new beer from concept to launch can be anything from 2 to 5 weeks
    • Our four-pack is biodegradable and edible by wildlife
    • The branding is how people recognize us and have designs that are so recognizable they don't need our name on them
    • The use of cans or bottles is driven by the beer style an imperial or barley it goes into a glass bottle.
    • When we wax want to use it to differentiate and to denote a premium product
    • Waxing is very labor intensive and there is a specific technique to achieve the slight drip
    • We are a brewery that prides itself on innovation the pushing the envelope for beers.
    • We keep our ear to the ground about what happening in the industry
    • We average two new beers a week
    • When we collaborate we are looking for the synergy and the aspects that can be brought together

     

    BEST MOMENTS

    ‘Beer is a lot like an orchestra with everyone taking their cues and working in collaboration together'

    ‘Waxing is very labor intensive but shows it's a premium product'

     

    VALUABLE RESOURCES

    [email protected] 

    3 Sons Brewing Instagram

    Alex Reyes Instagram

    ABOUT THE HOST

    Jenna Steele fell in love with the craft beer industry while studying hospitality at Cornell University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration. In one of her courses, she was able to try countless craft beers, from across the US, in every style. Though the beer was good, the can art stood out. She wanted to know more about how the cans came to be.

    Jenna's love for craft beer is primarily due to beers and breweries' creative and visual elements. Got cool can designs? Heck yeah.

    After working in finance for a couple of years, Jenna returned to her love of craft beer. She wanted to hear the stories behind can names and designs, brewers' backgrounds, breweries, and hear from label artists themselves. So, she took it upon herself to start The Craft Brewers' Creative under her Craft brand, Beer Can Lover.

    On The Craft Brewers' Creative, Jenna interviews brewers, graphic designers, marketing managers, creative directors, owners, and everyone in between about themselves and the beers they bring alive.

    You can find Jenna and her craft beer content on Instagram @beercanlover

    CONTACT DETAILS

    Beercanlover Instagram

     

    This show was brought to you by Progressive Media


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 5 min
  • Art, Science, Space & Beer with Molly Reynolds of Celestial Beerworks: The Brewery Born from Tinder

    Molly Reynolds, co-founder and creative director of Celestial Beerworks in Dallas, TX talks to Jenna about how the company got started and why visiting their taproom is the ultimate experience.

    She shares how science and space are the framework for all that they do and are woven across all design areas creating highly recognizable and visual branding.

    This is a great chance to hear about how their creative process works in the design and detail of all aspects of their brand and how social media is playing a vital role in sharing the message.

     

    KEY TAKEAWAYS

    • We jumped on in and started Celestial Beer and we already had some beer nerd followers so that helped
    • Because we have young children it's been great to create a space that young families feel comfortable with
    • Cans sales are higher because people still at the moment want to ‘buy and go'
    • Once we had found our place and developed the space I became much more confident
    • We have very defined roles and that really helps and we are a very last minute type of brewery
    • Creating the artwork is a very fun part of the job
    • The details like the colored 4 pack tops are what brings together the full aesthetic of the brand
    • We are trying to bring new ingredients into our beers and educate people on them
    • We use social media to explain the beers in ways that mean people remember them and tell their friends
    • Every label is designed to be fresh new and visually interesting but part of the brand so we use the same color palette
    • We want the whole experience to heighten the excitement in every way
    • We have our own glassware designed with our name on it and we have done glassware to match particular beers
    • I gain inspiration from everything around me and having an overarching theme associated with science and space provides a framework to work within

     

    BEST MOMENTS

    ‘It's just pure art'

    ‘I love the creative freedom to weave the aesthetic I want across every area of the brewery'

    ‘Colorful accents on the labels make all the difference'

     

    VALUABLE RESOURCES

    [email protected] 

    Celestial Beerworks

    Instagram @celestialbeerworks

     

    ABOUT THE HOST

    Jenna Steele fell in love with the craft beer industry while studying hospitality at Cornell University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration. In one of her courses, she was able to try countless craft beers, from across the US, in every style. Though the beer was good, the can art stood out. She wanted to know more about how the cans came to be.

    Jenna's love for craft beer is primarily due to beers and breweries' creative and visual elements. Got cool can designs? Heck yeah.

    After working in finance for a couple of years, Jenna returned to her love of craft beer. She wanted to hear the stories behind can names and designs, brewers' backgrounds, breweries, and hear from label artists themselves. So, she took it upon herself to start The Craft Brewers' Creative under her Craft brand, Beer Can Lover.

    On The Craft Brewers' Creative, Jenna interviews brewers, graphic designers, marketing managers, creative directors, owners, and everyone in between about themselves and the beers they bring alive.

    You can find Jenna and her craft beer content on Instagram @beercanlover

     

    CONTACT DETAILS

    Beercanlover Instagram

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    This show was brought to you by Progressive Media


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 5 min
  • In the Heart of the Community - Crank Arm Brewing

    Jenna talks with Adam Eckhardt, co-founder of Crank Arm Brewing in Raleigh, NC and Adam Balding, the artist behind designs and the CEO of Saturday's Gravy.  

    They discuss the importance of the relationship between the owner and the designer and the inspiration and concepts behind some of their iconic designs.

     

    KEY TAKEAWAYS  

    • Typically designers either want the freedom to roll and be trusted, or the owner knows exactly what they want
    • The ideas come from the wild dream world of Adam Eckhardt
    • You need the right relationship between owner and designer
    • Most can designs have more concept behind them than it appears
    • There are a lot of elements in the designs that correspond to the area where the beer is produced
    • Labels are a weird throwaway art but it's not just something crazy there is more to it than that
    • If the client has an idea you need to run with it and collaboration is everything
    • We are trying to make things fun repeatedly
    • Some brands have a standard but we want something to be an event every time
    • Every year the definition of craft beer changes to include Boston Beer and Sierra Nevada as they grow larger because they are founding members of the BA.
    • The definition of craft beer is the use of the right traditional ingredients and being independently owned
    • You open a brewery as a passion project not to make money
    • This brand is all about community and the cans represent the fun and fantasy aspect of our community

     

    BEST MOMENTS

    ‘Good art and good branding sells beer as much as good beer sells good beer'

    ‘The design concept was ‘a dumb way to die on a bicycle on psychedelics'

    ‘It's been a transformation from where we started to where we are now with branding'

     

    VALUABLE RESOURCES

    [email protected] 

    Crank Arm Brewing

    Instagram@crankarmbrew.

    ABOUT THE HOST

    Jenna Steele fell in love with the craft beer industry while studying hospitality at Cornell University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration. In one of her courses, she was able to try countless craft beers, from across the US, in every style. Though the beer was good, the can art stood out. She wanted to know more about how the cans came to be.

    Jenna's love for craft beer is primarily due to beers and breweries' creative and visual elements. Got cool can designs? Heck yeah.

    After working in finance for a couple of years, Jenna returned to her love of craft beer. She wanted to hear the stories behind can names and designs, brewers' backgrounds, breweries, and hear from label artists themselves. So, she took it upon herself to start The Craft Brewers' Creative under her Craft brand, Beer Can Lover.

    On The Craft Brewers' Creative, Jenna interviews brewers, graphic designers, marketing managers, creative directors, owners, and everyone in between about themselves and the beers they bring alive.

    You can find Jenna and her craft beer content on Instagram @beercanlover

     

    CONTACT DETAILS

    Beercanlover Instagram

     

     

    This show was brought to you by Progressive Media


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr 17 min
  • The Craft Brewers' Creative!

    In this, the very first episode of The Craft Brewers' Creative podcast host Jenna Steele shares her own story and explains why she loves the craft brewing industry.

    She gives a great insight into why she is taking a chance on herself and following her passion

    Bringing the inside stories about the designs, the breweries and the people behind craft beers.

    Every brewery and every craft beer is different and those who are involved are following their passion so if you don't know anything about the amazing world of craft beer yet .. subscribe and find out more

     

    KEY TAKEAWAYS

    • The creativity and passion in the craft beer industry is incredible, there are no rules in this industry
    • Brewers are always producing new lines with new designs
    • I wanted to further other people's knowledge about the marketing of craft beer as it continues to grow
    • I took a beers class and then quit my job to share with everyone the great marketing of craft beers
    • Every week I will be talking to the artists and those who market craft beer because I want to know how this beer can came to be
    • Because I'm not focused on the beer it makes it easier for me to find out about everything else when I'm talking to people
    • Every single brewery has such a different process and it's great to find out about how each beer has come to be and how it's been marketed
    • You can't have craft beers without an artist
    • If you are interested in breweries and how a beer came to be, you don't have to be into beer this is also for the artists
    • The focus is on the art and the graphics, I want to talk about the pretty cans and the art
    • This is about the stories behind the beer and the label

     

    BEST MOMENTS

    ‘Cool craft beer cans is what I love and I wanted to know more'

    ‘I want to enlarge the conversation around the craft beer industry'

    ‘I'm not here for the beer I'm here for everything else in the industry'

     

    VALUABLE RESOURCES

    [email protected] 

     

    ABOUT THE HOST

    Jenna Steele fell in love with the craft beer industry while studying hospitality at Cornell University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration. In one of her courses, she was able to try countless craft beers, from across the US, in every style. Though the beer was good, the can art stood out. She wanted to know more about how the cans came to be.

    Jenna's love for craft beer is primarily due to beers and breweries' creative and visual elements. Got cool can designs? Heck yeah.

    After working in finance for a couple of years, Jenna returned to her love of craft beer. She wanted to hear the stories behind can names and designs, brewers' backgrounds, breweries, and hear from label artists themselves. So, she took it upon herself to start The Craft Brewers' Creative under her Craft brand, Beer Can Lover.

    On The Craft Brewers' Creative, Jenna interviews brewers, graphic designers, marketing managers, creative directors, owners, and everyone in between about themselves and the beers they bring alive.

    You can find Jenna and her craft beer content on Instagram @beercanlover

     

    CONTACT DETAILS

    Beercanlover Instagram

     

     

    This show was brought to you by Progressive Media


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    43 min
  • The Craft Brewers' Creative Podcast Trailer!

    Jenna Steele fell in love with the craft beer industry while studying hospitality at Cornell University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration. In one of her courses, she was able to try countless craft beers, from across the US, in every style. Though the beer was good, the can art stood out. She wanted to know more about how the cans came to be.

    Jenna's love for craft beer is primarily due to beers and breweries' creative and visual elements. Got cool can designs? Heck yeah.

    After working in finance for a couple of years, Jenna returned to her love of craft beer. She wanted to hear the stories behind can names and designs, brewers' backgrounds, breweries, and hear from label artists themselves. So, she took it upon herself to start The Craft Brewers' Creative under her Craft brand, Beer Can Lover.

    On The Craft Brewers' Creative, Jenna interviews brewers, graphic designers, marketing managers, creative directors, owners, and everyone in between about themselves and the beers they bring alive.

    You can find Jenna and her craft beer content on Instagram @beercanlover

    This show was brought to you by Progressive Media


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 min

About The Craft Brewers' Creative

From the publisher's feed

Craft Brewing is often described as an art - however, the podcasts/blogs/sites etc. that discuss this don’t pay a ton of attention to the actual artwork and visual aspects of the industry!

I…