- more of a current, experimental typeface to match that of craft: Savate? Resistance? VTF? with their varying contrasting stroke widths and glyphs; or even one of the Mono typefaces as they are legible yet intriguing.
- Classic/ classy/ traditional approach: Didot? Caslon? Bagnard? Much more traditional and sophisticated look to these - more of a high end feel - look good warped.
- I considered a range of hard-hitting Sans-serif typefaces too. The structure within these definitely give legibility and impact for headings, etc.
- Berthold is very rounded and clear
- Akzidenz Condensed allows for bold headings in small places - can slightly stretch and warp, as the sharp edges and corners give it a distinctive appearance
- American P and Daxline provide a range of weights - ideal for variation - thin to heavy, also provide more character with the over-rounded bowls and counters.
- Also considered how a slab serif can provide the legibility of a sans-serif typeface, with the authority and impact of a serif typeface - Dobra providing the variation whilst Wellrock is a more irregular, experimental body copy.
- I also considered a range of more traditional typefaces too - more fancy hand rendered brush strokes reflecting that of traditional signage - Festival & Hominis.
- To more industrial, bolder typefaces - Steelworks, High Voltage and Wicked - slight erosion/gain to them really reflecting that gritty, traditionally produced style similar to the effect of letterpress - gives a very hand-crafted feel which fits perfectly with the craft selling points.
BREWDOG - Letterpress Justification
Scottish business BrewDog felt it was time to alter its packaging to ensure the look and feel of its bottles continued to match the craft and passion inside them.
"When we changed our packaging in 2014, we had one aim in mind: to create packaging that better reflected the beer we make," explains BrewDog's resident 'beer bandito' Jonathan Moran. "That meant focusing ruthlessly on quality and craft.
We've done that by stripping the design process back to basics; by going to one of the UK's few remaining letterpress studios to hand-print our designs using 100-year-old metal and wood letter blocks; by applying layers of ink with as much personality and character as the beer inside the bottle."
To keep some of that tactile feel that is common with letterpressing, the labels feature embossing and spot varnishing to further enhance the raised effect. Coupled with well-executed typography and layout, the new BrewDog packaging is leaps and bounds better than the old.
The process and effect of the letterpress is that it keeps the design process and style at bay with the traditional and hand-crafted beer itself - the imperfections of the ink reflect the character and experimental ethos of the brewery, whilst the form still feels bold and trustworthy.
I looked at various traditionally style / more hand rendered style branding flash sheets by various artists.
Was interesting to see how the type is partnered with the looser illustrated image to create the composition of the logo - laid out in various structures/grids, within borders or shapes, inverted or outlined. 
Some feel more simplified - prioritising the character of the type itself, rather than complicating the layout.
But some work in more intricate layouts which would be more appropriate for craft beer fitting within a set label space with various space for detailing such as Est. date, ABV % of the beer, etc.
Using a combination of my illustrations and the typefaces I had considered I began creating my own layouts for logos
- I felt considerably inspired by the almost stamp style - fitting it into a set space/shape to sit clearly on the label of the beer - but can also sit anywhere else - be it on draught pump taps, beer matts, t-shirts and other merch.
- I felt considerably inspired by the almost stamp style - fitting it into a set space/shape to sit clearly on the label of the beer - but can also sit anywhere else - be it on draught pump taps, beer matts, t-shirts and other merch.
- Trialled the serif Bagnard in upper case (top left) - looks official, but more like a grave stone than a craft beer brand - like the layout and enclosure tho.
- Steelworks - used the normal upper case lettering, fancy swirly characters were too much. Provides a thinner variant to the letter-pressed ink style, whilst the industrialism of it gives it authority and makes it feel official and trustworthy.
- High Voltage - high impact, bold, letterpress style - reflects the tradition, heritage and quality craft gone into the brewery.
- Savate fits the whole surrealist feel with its irregular form - is intriguing and feels modern/new wave - perfect for a wacky craft brand?
- Trialled the bold sans type Daxline - very hard-hitting and legible yet not the right approach, too basic.
Applied the ideas to the Carling Black Label concept..
This time trialling the size distribution of each element - which bit do I want attention first drawn to? How will that guide your eye around the rest of the logo?
- Can I warp and stretch the type to fit? How does the kerning make the content more bold and impactful?
Was clear to me how the sans-serif options of the Zamalek IPA was definitely more appropriate for the background and style of the beer I am going for.
Also being ultimately designed under the Carling brand - it should be somewhat consistent. And these more industrial feeling, bold typefaces like High Voltage, Steelworks mixed with Akzidenz Condensed for narrower content provides that consistency better than any serif typeface could.
The new Carling logo even references the past, through the use of the 'Black Label'.
A crit feedback session did suggest to me how the arched approach was the most effective layout - and the design itself didn't have to be enclosed within a border - this leaves space to experiment with the background and make it consistent with other distributions /outputs.
It also fits nicely with some of the arched illustrations I had already produced. Can position the text to fit in other bits of detail about the product within the layout.
