Westbound & Down is a brewery specializing in craft beer with deep Colorado roots that aims to infuse the spirit of the West into everything they create. Recipients of the Mid-Size Brewpub of the Year award at the Great American Beer Festival in 2019, Westbound once again stuck gold at this event in 2023 with their delicious Westbound Select, taking home first place for West Coast-Style IPA—their first gold in this coveted category.
After winning gold, Westbound decided it was time for Westbound Select to be canned and available in their to-go fridge. I was honored when they reached out to offer me the privilege of creating Westbound Select's first label, and jumped at the opportunity.
Westbound Select | GABF gold award-winning West Coast IPA
Product design | illustration | Layout Design
The inspiration behind the label concept came from the hop selection process. Much like the meticulous nature of a jeweler examining a gem stone using a loop, brewers study the characteristics of hops during the sensory process and hand-select those of the highest quality for their intended recipe.
Initial concept sketches. Option 3 was the direction chosen.
Final Artwork
How the West Was One | Single hop west coast IPa series
Product design | illustration | Layout Design
Creative Direction: Eric Schmidt | creative Director | westbound & Down Brewing company
FOCUS is a fall seasonal West Coast IPA brewed by Fort George Brewery in Astoria, Oregon which appears on the shelves at all major retailers in the Pacific Northwest. Beginning as a Craft Brewers Conference one-off collaboration (blue / purple color-way) with Crosby Hops in 2022, the beer was so well received that it has been brewed annually ever since! Multiple label color-ways signify different batches with varying hop profiles.
Fort George Focus | Seasonal west coast IPa series
Product design | Image Creation | Color | Layout Design
Inspired by and expanding on the aesthetic treatment conceived in my card game MINDBIND, FOCUS label art conveys a depth of field using many pairs of stylized hops which exist on different planes.
The lone exception to their traditional beer-title typography, FOCUS displays a blurred treatment of its title and Fort George company logo, complementing the graphic concept of the artwork.
The green and pink color-ways above have been adopted to differentiate the two seasonal batches released annually. Below is early concept exploration. The bottom right was selected by Fort George as the direction for the final label artwork.
Early concept exploration
Creative Direction: brian bovenizer | marketing & Sales Director | Fort george brewery
