Sooke Oceanside Brewery

Design Agency: Hired Guns Creative
Printer: Tapp Label
Photography: Sean Fenzl
Project Type: Produced, Commercial Work
Client: Sooke Oceanside Brewery
Location: Nanaimo, Canada
Packaging Contents: Beer
Packaging Materials: Paper on Glass

The design for Boneyard IPA centers around the classic skull-and-crossbones as it would feature in the folktales of its namesake, Boneyard Lake. Illustrated bones are buried in the title’s letterforms and borders.

The design for Renfrew Red Ale pays tribute to the treacherous waters off Sooke’s coast, illustrating a Spanish galleon on the brink of capsize. The waves splash up the oval framework and echo through the title’s typography.

The design for Bonfire Blonde is set around the roaring fires made in celebration after a hard day’s work. Sparks and smoke weave through the oval frame, while flames illuminate the title’s lettering.

The design for Stiff Jab Pale Ale is inspired by boxing iconography, with an electrifying left jab punching through the frame. Lightning bolts are echoed through the typographical decoration and framing elements of the title.

What’s Unique?
For Sooke Oceanside Brewing, we were tasked with creating a brand world centred around a lineup of products with strong family resemblance, yet with enough flexibility to allow for custom illustrations for each product. We decided to unify the brand with a bold, graphic approach, drawing on the aesthetics of barber shops and advertising art from the 1930s. For the label design system, we developed a hybrid approach: some of the framing and secondary design elements are consistent across the lineup, while others correspond to the iconic, central illustration. Custom typography, for example, is harmonized across the product lineup by letterform, and unified within the individual label by ornament. The labels all come together with a decorative die shape and an eye-catching colour palette.