January 24th is National Beer Can Appreciation Day, which celebrates the historic and thirst-quenching day beer was first sold in cans! In celebration, here are a few of Elysian Brewing’s most iconic beer cans through the years including Salt & Seed, the hit summer seasonal rose released last year which features a photograph of an actual watermelon, and Dayglow, which showcases a tiger with laser beams shooting out of its eyes (yes, you read that right).
The in-house design team at Seattle-based craft brewery Elysian Brewing is known for its art-forward approach to beer can creation. The small design team is constantly pushing the boundaries and exploring how they can drive excitement and inspiration through label design, often through a mixed-medium and DIY creative take on label design.
The creativity and imagination that goes into their labels are endless, leading to everything from sculptures, photography, and even shampoo being featured on product labels. In celebration of the upcoming holiday, the Elysian design team talked about their favorite labels throughout the years.
Dayglow IPA
Elysian Design Team: “What company proudly puts a tiger shooting laser beams out of its eyes on a bottle and pushes print? As ridiculous as the concept seems, the visual was a hit. Dayglow was the winner of the 2014 Beverage World Global Packaging Design Awards, paving the way and setting a standard for all future Elysian label designs to come.”
Mother Pig Fresh Hop IPA
Elysian Design TeamL “The art for Mother Pig was inspired by the hop picker at the farm that provided the hops for this IPA. The picker is a specialized machine the growers refer to as ‘Mother Pig’ as it herds up all the little piglets (Hop bines).”
Salt and Seed Watermelon Gose
Elysian Design Team: “This tongue-in-cheek ‘still life’ reveals itself as an impossible object; similar to a ship-in-bottle, it begs out consumers to question—’how the heck did they do that?’ The creation of this label was done in-house and all by hand for an elaborate, albeit lo-fi photoshoot.”
Thanks, It’s Cashmere Hazy IPA
Elysian Design Team: “This label was a first in our history in that it cleverly highlighted the hop used within its name, leaned into it, and turned it into a full-on story. It set a high bar for beers following its footsteps and reimagined what it means to write a beer description.”
