No Label Sittin Sidehaze Craft Beer Label Design Overview

Over the last few years, No Label’s been reshaping their image. Once a brewery known for not brewing IPAs, they now have a dozen different IPAs on the tapwall, two of which we’ve had a small hand in including this one and Mangalorian. Their new approach includes multiple artists each contributing multiple styles, and it’s the antithesis of consistent, but that’s the key. The labels and merch read more like a community of creativity than a brand with rigid guidelines. Periodically, all of the various different pieces of art will culminate on something like a crowler label, glassware, or a hat. It’s a pretty neat approach that allows for a ton of creative flexibility.

Problem

Redesign the original Sittin Sidehaze label while retaining the same color scheme, but adding a bit more authenticity. Craft beer label design has to be authentic. Sittin Sidehaze is meant to be a play on words from Paul Wall’s 2005 smash hit “Sittin Sidewayz” featuring Big Pokey. It was intended to mesh Katy’s suburban lifestyle with Houston SLAB culture, but despite their best efforts it fell short. The original car was a ’64 Impala on Daytons. For all my hip hop heads, y’all know that’s more West Coast than palm trees and IPA origins. This artwork needed to be a big body 78′ Cadillac El Dog clankin’ on 84’s with the wild obnoxious bull horns on the hood. Now THAT’S SLAB culture.

Solution

For starters, make the culture proud. Second of all, can’t forget about the suburban cheekiness, so the station wagon had to stay. Add a few famous No Label characters into the mix, and bam, we have a refreshed Sittin Sidehaze that pays homage to the original artwork. Similar to the 1980 Kolsch redesign, this is another of No Label’s top performers in retail, so the pressure was on.

• 12oz Can Label
• Taphandle Stickers
• Instagram Story Sticker for Sharing
• Sales Sheet to Aid Distro Customers
• Can Mockups for Social Media
• Beer Can Glassware
• Dog Toy

Going into this relationship – my concern was never with talent, but it was with ability to turn quality work over on a dime and the communicative back and forth that I find that I need. We recently won two Craft Beer Marketing Awards (Crushies) for our team’s top-notch work during the pandemic. If I didn’t have the great communicative relationships with designers and merchandisers to shoot ideas out in the middle of the night, the work would have never been done and furthermore – would not have been recognized on such a scale. Safe to say, Anthony [and the Beer Chronicle team] does fit that mold. Whether it’s giving him specific ideas to bring to fruition or letting him go wild with very little direction, the results are creatively satisfying.

He’s a talented man, a good man – worthy of your hire.

– Tom Paynter, Co-Owner/Marketing Director

No Label Sittin Sidehaze Craft Beer Label Design Credits

Art Direction, Illustration, Animation, Graphic Design, Merch, Project Management: Anthony Gorrity

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