We haven’t taken part in the session for a couple of years, mostly because we found ourselves struggling to fit in an opportunity to, e.g., drink a particular type of beer before it rolled around.
Anyway, it’s time to get back in the saddle so here we are again to talk about the art of beer labels, caps and coasters, for this month’s session hosted by HopHeadSaid.
We have a particular interest in commercial design and illustration and when it relates to beer, all the better. We’ve posted about it on more than one occasion and have been really enjoying this excellent blog about beer branding recently.
The image above is one of our favourite bits of beer-related design and, perhaps not so coincidentally, comes from one of our favourite breweries.
What’s not to like? There’s sans serif typography (we have some sympathy with the Helvetica nerds), a simple colour scheme reflecting the flag of Franconia and an equally simple graphic. All of this reminds us vividly of their pub in Nuremberg and their beers, all of which are also simple, unpretentious and clean.
You’ll note that the image above is a bit rough. It needed some restoration because this beermat, along with a stack of others from Germany, the Czech Republic and Belgium, lives in our kitchen and gets used every day. It’s a little bit of Nuremberg we can enjoy every day. As a result, it is covered in beer stains.
Mind you, that Satan cap art isn’t bad either, and nor are the twin labels for the Brooklyn/Schneider collaborations.
7 replies on “The Big Session Comeback Tour”
Might just be me, but the hop cones (?) on the roundel remind me of David (Al) Hedison’s face in the original ‘The Fly’… 😎
Sid — pretty sure that is just you… although we did put this beer mat in a teleporter with a fly, so who knows?
I love it when people geek out on details like typography. Who knew a beermat, or coaster here in the US, could be so evocative? And “The Fly” reference, brilliant! Thanks for participating!
Gotta love the simplicity and the classic imagery. Very nice.
Glad you gave the Schneider version another go, it is one of my outstanding beers of the year. I bought five bottles last month; hanging onto the last one. Alluring, smoky goodness. One of the only hop-crossover directions with its own charm. Belgian IPA is a litany of misfires.
Can’t believe I missed this one, I could have talked for hours on design. Actually, better I did! I find The Session sometimes hard to keep up with who’s actually hosting it month-on-month. Any tips ?
There’s a master list here.