Submission guidelines and a rough timeline for the 2010 show will be available soon.If your brewery wishes to be involved in 2009 or future years, please feel free to contact us. These are the breweries that participated in the 2009 Design, Drink and Be Merry exhibition:  Atwater Block Brewery Detroit, MI A hallmark of Atwater’s design is a comfort with iconic simplicity. Whether the logo of the hand, the Voodoo Vator skull, or a two-dimensional devilette, the Detroit brewery’s work is driven by a single dominant image. Even the darkly ornate Nordic motif of the Shaman’s Porter artwork is one of a traditional etching, done in muted colors, and revealing in stark terms the character of the beer.
Allentown, PA The Brew Works brewpubs of Fegley Enterprises in the nearby Lehigh Valley are closely connected to the industrial past of the region. Artist Benjamin Miosi’s chalkboards hang above the bar in the Bethlehem Brew Works, announcing the beers on draft. His work evokes both the history of steelmaking, as in the Steelworker’s Stout and the CH-47 Pale Ale designs, and the post-industrial, arts-based revitalization of the region, as in his board for the flagship Fegley’s ESB.  East End Brewing Company Pittsburgh, PA The East End microbrewery, located in the Homewood area of Pittsburgh, is emblematic of the Steel City’s transformation over the past several decades into one of the country’s greenest cities. Committed to sustainable practices and community involvement, East End retains the hard-working down-to-earth ethic for which Pittsburgh has always been renowned. The design work for the Ugly American Imperial IPAs - “corrupted beyond recognition with a completely inappropriate amount of US hops” - shows this character with its playful depiction of a cowboy resembling a recent Republican president.  Erie, PA Erie has been brewing beer on the shores of Lake Erie for 15 years “with hometown pride, strength and purity.” The brews and designs both call to mind local history and culture. Whether recalling the railroad heydays of the 1800s, Anthony Wayne’s Revolutionary War heroics of Western Pennsylvania and Canada, or the nearby natural draws of Presque Isle and Misery Bay, Erie’s designs are filled with historical images that jump off of the bottle with action and movement.  Fire Island Beer Company Fire Island, NY Those familiar with the laid-back locale of Long Island’s Fire Island will find appropriate the images of lighthouses, red wagons, and swimming deer, all of which can be found in abundance. Particularly exciting is the opportunity to see the process and work of creating the visual identity not just of a beer, but of an entire beer company. FIBC, which launches in May of this year, went through a process of determining an entire look and feel that matched the ethos of the beloved Long Island vacation destination. New Belgium Brewing Company Fort Collins, CO It is a small wonder that a company born on a bicycle would be setting the pace for sustainable brewery practices 20 years later. Powered by wind energy and always in pursuit of a “more responsible enjoyment beer,” New Belgium also produces marketing and design work that pushes the usual bounds of brewery art. The creation of shadowbox-style displays showcases the fact that New Belgium sees its role - in the regional, industry and global communities - as more than a surface-level one. The added dimension gives New Belgium’s advertising depth and texture that go beyond standard boundaries of marketing design.  Raven Beer Baltimore, MD The brewers of Raven Special Lager honor the great American poet Edgar Allan Poe with both their beer and their design. The art of Raven recalls Poe in different ways. They replicated design from cigar boxes of the early 1900s that featured Poe’s likeness, and their original art blends the macabre and playful with an image of a woman at Poe’s grave, holding a bottle of Raven seemingly in offering to the departed icon of Baltimore. River Horse Brewing Company Lambertville, NJ “River Horse” is the translation of the Latin in “hippopotamus,” and the brewery has seen several very different representations of its chosen animal over the years. The current version by Bruno Guerreiro is a more natural one, a skillfully drawn cartoon of a river horse glaring over the logo. In some cases, the hippo joins with case designs by Jon Loudon to warn us of extremes of flavor, as in the hop hazard or the unfiltered lager and double wit. In all cases, the earthy artwork of River Horse reflects its respect for the ingredients in its beer.
Undisclosed Location Rotgutzen’s efforts push the limits of design in a way that only the best viral marketing efforts can. Whether in YouTube debates or a sleekly-designed corporate site espousing the company’s “philosophy,” Rotgutzen makes its mission clear with everything from a an ongoing feud with craft breweries to factual nuggets such as “Sharks are allergic to Rotgutzen and it is often used by divers to repel sharks in high-shark areas.” We are pleased to present the Rotgutzen Web design as our first purely digital exhibition piece. Shmaltz Brewing Co. San Francisco, CA/Brooklyn, NY Shmaltz artist Matt Polacheck’s designs burst with color and vitality. Shmaltz comes from the Yiddish word for chicken fat, referring to an overwrought emotional affect that borders on the silly. Shmaltz’ labels are filled with figures and images of everything from historical figures to beer ingredients to Jewish lore, befitting perfectly the beer with the best sense of humor in the industry. Polacheck’s art brings Shmaltz’ witty mission to life, whether with depictions of Lenny Bruce or some of Coney Island’s carnival characters for the Coney Island Lagers series.  Durango, CO While most know Ska as a horn-laden music style of the 1990s, the artistic movement goes back to the 1950s and Jamaican influences in musical fusion. Dorn Roberts, the artist for the small brewery in the Southwest corner of Colorado, produces figures that pop with the lively feeling of the movement, and everything from cases to label art turn into comic book-style spectacles.  Smuttynose Brewing Company Portsmouth, NH Smuttynose labels are among the few to feature photography on the label art, which gives the resulting artwork an uncommon depth. The graphic art that designer Joanne Francis creates with it is as varied as Smuttynose’s beer, depicting calm scenes like something out of Edward Hopper in one label and surrealist images in the next. The Star Island artwork is on the latter end of the spectrum, as it features a mermaid sipping from a golden goblet on one of rocky outcroppings along the New England shores.  Southern Tier Brewing Company Jamestown, NY This brewery in the heart of Western New York’s snow belt is surrounded by the power of agriculture. Designer Nathan Arnone uses the local environment for inspiration in his artwork, just as the brewery uses it for inspiration – and ingredients – in its brews. The 422 Pale Wheat Ale is among the creations most reverent to the Earth around Jamestown, though, with recycled packaging and eco-friendly advice incorporated into the green design itself.  Stoudts Brewing Company Adamstown, PA The Stoudt family has been brewing in nearby Adamstown for more than 20 years, and the brewery’s active role in the Reading area has led it to all sorts of artistic endeavors. The latest – and arguably raciest – of these are the newest creations by Jodi Stoudt. Her fascination with the art of the burlesque has led her to create pasties made from brewing ingredients.
Harrisburg, PA Troegs sets the standard for breweries sponsoring art well
beyond the boundaries of the label or packaging. Whether sponsoring graffiti
artists to create banners of its beers or encouraging customers to create art
from Troegs bottle caps, the Harrisburg brewery is always looking for ways to
encourage expression and creativity about beer. The graphic art being exhibited this year recalls the psychedelic movement of the 1960s and 1970s. To see some of the work exhibited in 2008, please check here, or look at some of the articles written on the show. |
