
The great dudes behind Hoppy Press had a genius idea. Why not create quality art for homebrewers? There are only so many homebrew kits you can buy your brother-in-law, right?

More info, pics and screenprinting process picks after the jump!
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I was blessed with a magical gift over the holidays. The gift of beer. I’ve been wanting to take a stab at home brewing for a while, but it just always ended up lower on the list than every other project that sprung to mind. Since Santa was able to cram a seven gallon brew kit down the chimney this December, the time has come to brew!
I’m kicking off my first batch this weekend, but up until now, since high school really, I’ve been done an extensive amount of field research to help ‘refine’ my palette. Lately, I’ve been frequenting Sams Quick Shop in Durham, and Tasty Beverage in Raleigh for an assortment of brewery tastings.

Something I’ve come to realize during my time at these two fine establishments is that there is potentially a huge opportunity for designers in the form of craft beer labels. It seems small/craft brewers are producing seasonal & specialty beers more frequently than ever these days. I think breweries should treat the labels on these specialty beers like book covers, and let the label truly reflect the uniqueness of the beer itself. This could mean a complete divergence from the brand style of the brewery & their main beers, but that’s ok. I think the target audience involved would be particularly forgiving in this instance, and as long as there is some visual thread among the entire line of beers, I think unique (well designed) labels for specialty/seasonals are the way to go.
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Hi Everyone! We’ve got another awesome giveaway for you guys! We’re giving away one 18×24″ poster and two 8×10″ prints from Special Characters as well as one Tasty Beverage Co. t-shirt!

Special Characters is a collaboration between two very talented designers, Jaime Van Wart and Critter Wentworth. They had a show of typographic posters and prints at the Busy Bee Cafe in Raleigh back in March, and they just got their Two Dumbs Etsy shop up and running. Go check it out!


Tasty Beverage Co. is an upcoming business working to bring delicious beer to downtown Raleigh headed by the wonderfully awesome Sean Pratt. Go check out the fun selection of t-shirts [designed by Jaime Van Wart] in the Tasty Beverage Co. shop, and support your future local beer shop!
Both Two Dumbs and Tasty Beverage Co. would also like to thank ahpeele for making the printing possible.
This contest will have three winners, one getting a 18×24″ Special Characters poster, one getting two 8×10″ Special Characters typography prints, and one getting a Tasty Beverage Co. t-shirt. To enter, just leave a comment saying which prize you would like. The winners will get to pick which poster/prints/shirt they would like, so check out the shops to figure out what you want!
Contest ends next Friday night, [9/24] at 11:59pm. We’ll announce our winner on Monday morning. Good luck!
Something on tonight’s Man VS Food episode on the Travel Channel may look familiar to you. That’s because the host will be running The DOUGHMAN!! Remember those kick ass posters we designed a while back? The rounds of mad scientist-like experiments? The blood, sweat, t-shirts and, uh, dough?

The race was not only a television star, but a fundraising success as well. They managed to raise over $12,000.00 this year! Twelve thousand U.S. dollars for the Durham Inner-city Gardeners program at SEEDS. Amazing. We’re proud to have helped out in some small way.
So, watch it for yourself tonight at 10 pm EST. If you don’t have a TV or a comfy couch just head over to Dain’s Place on Ninth Street where the Doughman crew (whadup, Pae and Emily!) is hosting a viewing party open to the public. I hear there’s beer involved. Specifically, a Foothills Brewery cask. YESSSS.
Who’s up for a TV PARTY TONIGHT??? ALRIGHT!

I love these new labels that The Robin Shepherd Group designed for Florida-based Bold City Brewery.

The manatee is my favorite! You can check out some more pictures at LovelyPackage.com

Last night I checked out the Boylan Bridge Brewpub in Raleigh that opened recently. It’s pretty neat, they have lots of outdoor seating with a great view of downtown and they brew their own beer. And right now they’re showing some cool North Carolina themed photography taken by my good friend Nicole Alvarez. You should check it out!

Recently we’ve been in contact with several breweries in the triangle area in hopes of getting some design work from them. I’ve been doing some research on bottle design, and here are some of my favorites:


Does anyone else have any favorites?
Yesterday afternoon, a few of us had the pleasure of visiting Aviator Brewery in Fuquay Varina, NC to talk a little design and taste a little beer.

Brewmaster Mark and his crew are some great guys and they brew some seriously great beer. We got to sample the three beers on tap: their Saison, a Tripel, and a red (“Hot Rod”). Amazing! Really powerful, flavorful beers.

If you’re a NC local, get down to your local bar and have an Aviator! And if the bar doesn’t have it on tap, let your bartender know that the people demand it (I’m lookin’ at you, Pinhook)!

Visit their website and find out where Aviator is served and then go imbibe! Or, you can order a zucchini from their webstore (literally).
See more photos from our trip at our Flickr.
Stumbled upon this site and had to pass it on. myopenbar.com is a website that provides pretty comprehensive & updated daily listings of open-bar events in a handful of major cities. Coincidentally, a decent amount of the events revolve around live bands, art galleries and the like. A handy resource for the alcoholic, socialite or casual drinker during these tough economic times. Drink up!
