BLINDMAN BREWING
CAPTURING SUMMER IN A CAN
THE STORY BEHIND THE LABEL
Summit provided the creative labelling solution for Blindman Brewing’s Super Session Summer. A light, refreshing, and crushable beer that tastes like summer in a can.
Hailing from Lacombe County, AB, local community builder Blindman Brewing was the 20th brewery to open in AB back in October 2015. Now they’re making big waves in an industry of 100, scooping up ‘Community Builder of the Year’ at the 2019 Alberta Beer awards for their collaboration, generosity, and enthusiasm.
“ WE ARE STOKED ABOUT THEM. ”
Kirk Zembal, Co-founder of Blindman Brewing
THE BRIEF
Every year the Blindman team celebrates summer with one of the best Session Ales you’ll ever taste. A beer which captures sunshine, nostalgia, and creativity all in one beautiful package. At only 3% alcohol in a true Canadian stovepipe can, it’s citrusy, hoppy - but not bitter, and definitely crushable. Blindman Brewing had three main objectives with their label:
- Create a label that stands out on the shelf, capturing all the fun and flavour of summertime.
- Take advantage of the size and shape of the stovepipe can to enhance the customer experience with interactive packaging.
- Give local writers a chance to share their stories.
THE APPROACH
A Stovepipe can is 568ml (quite a bit taller than the standard 473ml can). To take full advantage of the size and accommodate their preferred materials, we brought in a custom die. The size of the label gave the brewery room for creativity and they put the call out for short stories from local writers - giving them free rein. In the end, they received 14 submissions and decided to develop 14 different labels.
The Blindman design team evoked nostalgia and told the story of summer using the magic of progressive illustration. Trusting to our variable printing expertise, they created a brilliant, sunrise-to-sunset panorama across all 14 cans.
THE DETAILS
We used variable data to create a uniform design and save Blindman Brewing both time and money. We easily switched between stories and generated images, getting their work to print faster and creating uniformity in their cans. This also meant saving their team money on gang run printing. Our digital printers allowed us to run all the labels at once, instead of charging for each piece of artwork, then printing and shipping each run separately. In the end, cutting down on confusion and letting the brewery take full advantage of our volume discounts.
We printed these labels on a waterproof, oil-proof 2.4m white BOPP and finished it off with a lux matte laminate for a more premium look, which could be photographed easily. We used a PET liner to maximize the efficiency of their label applicator. PET liners are thinner and made of a durable, recyclable plastic. This meant they could run at higher speeds, fit more labels per roll, and bypass the tearing which Blindman had experienced with other liners on their equipment.
THE RESULTS
Over 20,000 cans and 14 original short stories printed in 14 colour scapes, which come together in a beautiful, (collectible!) summer scene. A photogenic social media hit, with thousands of Instagram likes and views, and a stunning 4/5 and counting on Untapped.
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