This set of designs got accepted into the New York Society of Illustrators’ surface design annual book as well as inclusion in the Association of Illustrators’ World Illustration Award in the design category. It also garnered a Las Vegas AIGA chapter silver award at the annual workshow.
Christina Ellis, the Marketing Director for Ellis Island Casino, approached me to create a unique, artist-inspired beer jug or growler, that can be filled with the local draft, sealed and taken to go. The idea was to create one single design, yet in the process of touring the facility, I thought they could benefit from a set as a way to inspire demand for collectible objects.
We decided on having them connect thematically at first but after a few brainstorming sessions and meetings we both agreed that if we could find visual connectivity in the design, it would instill more value as a collectible to complete the scene. I decided to highlight the typical components in brewing. In these scenes, the characters are dealing with each of the four components of beer-making: barley, water, hops and yeast.
In each jug, the characters are interacting with one of these ingredients and using specific brewing equipment. The challenge was the one-color flexographic production. Perspective and depth had to be rendered using layout and overlap as well as sizing and conventional iconography. There are way more containers and processes in brewing but I needed to keep them simplified.
The overall result was exactly what I expected. It sold out so fast, they had to reprint them several times.
Art Director & Illustrator / Hernan Valencia Marketing Director / Christina Ellis
Production / Glass and Growlers
Production / Glass and Growlers
