this point. Everything is trademarked and
thought of,” he said.
When it comes to finding a good beer
moniker, he says it’s all about having a good
‘bar call.’
“That’s the most important thing to
me, the longevity of the bar call. ‘I’ll take a
Blue,’ sounds a lot better than, ‘Can I have a
Rough Riding Red Bark?’” he said.
One or two syllables is ideal and so
is simplicity. “All good design is building
things up and stripping it down to remove
everything you don’t need and leaving
the best.”
What makes a good label/package?
When it comes to designing a label or
packaging, there’s a lot to consider. Nidle
says her company starts with where the
product is being sold. “Brands can get away
with simpler labels if they are being sold in
a tasting room and are introduced by staff.
The label isn’t as important.”
If it’s going to be sold on liquor store
shelves, the key is standing out, even if you
have a loyal consumer following. “If you’re
somebody’s go-to gin you want to make
sure they recognize your brand when they
get to the gin aisle and not be distracted by
another bottle winking at them,” she said.
The key directives to her designers are
to make sure the type of product is front
and centre. “What needs to stand out on
a shelf is the brand, logo and product. The
product name is not necessarily the most
important part; we want consumers to see
what it is, i.e. Merlot, Scotch, etc.
“I want to be able to stand back 10
to 20 feet and see the brand and what the
product is. We find that consumers who
go into a liquor store without a specific
brand in mind are influenced by labels,”
said Nidle.
Hatter’s starting point is the format
of the label. “I can get pretty crazy with
artwork and get as detailed or stark as
possible. It depends on the client and
the format.
“A big label wrapping around a vodka
bottle has a lot more detail than printing
on a beer can in four colours. That’s stuff I
have to know from the beginning so I don’t
design something that can’t be produced,”
he said.
Hatter also takes inspiration from the
ingredients of the product, calling this pro-cess
‘design to flavour.’
“I try to understand the flavour, and
try and convey that through the tone of the
imagery, language and typography.”
“That’s the most
important thing to
me, the longevity
of the bar call. ‘I’ll
take a Blue,’ sounds
a lot better than,
‘Can I have a Rough
Riding Red Bark?’”
– Richard Hatter, Hired Guns Creative
Courtesy of Sean Fenzl
Courtesy of Anouk & I
PACKAGING
Richard Hatter’s award-winning design, Raised by Wolves, uses design elements from
the IPA’s ingredients
FALL 2019 § POURED CANADA § 31