The Commercial stuff
As New England Brewing grows, new elements arrive. So recently, they bagged a labeling machine. This allows some of their not-so-regularly-produced beers to be canned and sold to fans.
(This also allows me to do more labels and stay employed. Yesssssss!)
Along with the amazing Nick Gamma rocking the graphic expertise, here’s a few examples of sticker labels produced.
Take a hoppy IPA and blend in real mango purée. What is the combining of that gonna be?
MANGO-STEIN!
(This also allows me to do more labels and stay employed. Yesssssss!)
Along with the amazing Nick Gamma rocking the graphic expertise, here’s a few examples of sticker labels produced.
Take a hoppy IPA and blend in real mango purée. What is the combining of that gonna be?
MANGO-STEIN!
Here’s a decent amount of tap handle images that were used over at New England Brewing. Sometimes I am given the name to be used, many times I come up with the name.
Each new beer that comes around and is sold in the NEB tasting room requires an image that is displayed on their tap handles. It’s a small way to crack people up.
The brewers at NEBCo. had brewed up a Barley Wine called Premeditated Murder....for which I did the label and will post it when I can scan a copy of it.
They then took that beer and aged it in rum barrels creating a different beer; a different beer needed a different label.
Playing with the murder theme and having a friend spit out the "Redrum" word, naturally an homage to the movie The Shining (and the character "Danny" talking to his finger) came about.
The brewers at New England Brewing came to me and said that they were planning on brewing up a Berliner Weiss. That's a beer style that has an active Lactobacillus culture added to it during the brewing process that leaves the finished beer with a sharp, very tart, acidic bite to it.
As it is a wheat or weiss beer -also referred to as a white beer- the name "Weiss Trash Culture" pretty much wrote itself.
And this is the mandatory image of the "weiss trash" couple that immediately followed.
The color version is here in a nice write-up by Will Siss of the book Cool Beer Labels: The Best Art & Design from Breweries Around the World by Steven Speeg.
*Side note: The owner of NEBCo. decreed early on in the brewery's history, that the brewery will "never have a beer with a dog on the label"; seeing that there are hundreds of dog-themed beers out there already. This label skirted that law by featuring a dog with three legs, therefore making it not a complete dog.
Whew.
A few months back I was contacted by the head brewer at Steady Habit Brewing in Haddam, CT. He, that being Jon, was looking for some artwork for the soon-to-be-opened brewery and some images for their line of beers.
We met, hit it off, and I got to do some label work for him.
Thanks, Jon!
So here's what fell out of my head for BEHOLD! Pale Ale; a single-hopped Pale with all Nelson hops. Flasher magicians seem to work!
We met, hit it off, and I got to do some label work for him.
Thanks, Jon!
So here's what fell out of my head for BEHOLD! Pale Ale; a single-hopped Pale with all Nelson hops. Flasher magicians seem to work!
Jon said he had a few ideas for some of the images.
"I'm doing an IPA called 'Our Daily Bread' and I'm picturing a guy praying to a Hop God on a throne surrounded by clouds. And can you make the guy kind of dumpy? Oh. And can you put a whale on the guys t-shirt?"
Here's the final version of "Our Daily Bread". I did the lettering a few different ways and I think this was the version that was accepted.
Yeah. And I got the whale in.
"I'm doing an IPA called 'Our Daily Bread' and I'm picturing a guy praying to a Hop God on a throne surrounded by clouds. And can you make the guy kind of dumpy? Oh. And can you put a whale on the guys t-shirt?"
Here's the final version of "Our Daily Bread". I did the lettering a few different ways and I think this was the version that was accepted.
Yeah. And I got the whale in.
For more than a few years, I have been the mind and artwork behind many of the names and labels for the New England Brewing Company.
Below are work examples and the "real story" behind how some of the well-known beer names and images came to be.
Colorizations and label lay-out by The Russell Shaddox.
Below are work examples and the "real story" behind how some of the well-known beer names and images came to be.
Colorizations and label lay-out by The Russell Shaddox.
There's a hop grown in New Zealand (the sole hop used in this beer) that is pronounced "moe-too-AY-kah". But prior to learning this, it was told to the brewers and myself that the name of the hop was pronounced "mah-TOO-kah". Going with that, a two-minute riff session happened and I ended up spitting out this name/image idea.
The end result being an irate Hawaiian man who is unfairly accusing you of stealing his ukelele.
Now do you get it?
This one I added color to.
The end result being an irate Hawaiian man who is unfairly accusing you of stealing his ukelele.
Now do you get it?
This one I added color to.
The brewers at New England Brewing somehow got a-hold of two, used, tequila barrels. They then filled them with their Gandhi-Bot Double IPA. The resulting beer was so new (and amazing), that they needed to put it out with a new name and label.
Already deciding on the name Zapata-Bot (combing the previous name with the Mexican tie-in of tequila and Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata Salazar), this is the label I drew for that limited batch of beer.
Already deciding on the name Zapata-Bot (combing the previous name with the Mexican tie-in of tequila and Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata Salazar), this is the label I drew for that limited batch of beer.
This is the finished label as it appears on bottles.
During a period of expansion at the brewery, a ten-barrel fermentation tank was acquired. Instead of coming up with a name and image for each beer that came from this tank, it was decided to do a series of beers with one name and just number them consecutively*.
Seeing that the 10-barrel tank was short, squat, and kind of fat, I called the beers that emerged, The Fat Ten-er Series. That name naturally bellowed for an over-sized, opera singer to be the spokes-head/image.
* The number of each successive beer is then put into this guys gaping mouth.
Seeing that the 10-barrel tank was short, squat, and kind of fat, I called the beers that emerged, The Fat Ten-er Series. That name naturally bellowed for an over-sized, opera singer to be the spokes-head/image.
* The number of each successive beer is then put into this guys gaping mouth.
This is the original, pencil drawing that now lives on the front of the Gandhi-Bot t-shirts. It is also emblazoned across the front of the Gandhi-Bot beer snifters sold at the brewery.
BUT....unfortunately there was a bit of drama concerning the Gandhi-Bot label and an alteration was made.
This image will not be used on the above-mentioned shirts and glassware any more.
So, if you have ANY items with this image on it, hold onto it! I'll eventually get famous for something and then you can unload all your Gandhi-Bot gear online and make a fortune!
BUT....unfortunately there was a bit of drama concerning the Gandhi-Bot label and an alteration was made.
This image will not be used on the above-mentioned shirts and glassware any more.
So, if you have ANY items with this image on it, hold onto it! I'll eventually get famous for something and then you can unload all your Gandhi-Bot gear online and make a fortune!
To answer the question, "What the Hell is a Gandhi-Bot?!?",........
When asked to come up with a name for the new Double IPA, I submitted a couple hundred names to the NEB guys. This was my favorite as well as theirs.
The idea is.....basically, whenever you make something into a robot, it becomes cooler. And if you took someone who was pretty danged cool...like Gandhi...and made him a robot, he'd be infinitely cooler.
AND if that infinitely cooler robot cool person were dancing "The Robot"?
Add in a mild India/Gandhi attachment and that's that.
When asked to come up with a name for the new Double IPA, I submitted a couple hundred names to the NEB guys. This was my favorite as well as theirs.
The idea is.....basically, whenever you make something into a robot, it becomes cooler. And if you took someone who was pretty danged cool...like Gandhi...and made him a robot, he'd be infinitely cooler.
AND if that infinitely cooler robot cool person were dancing "The Robot"?
Add in a mild India/Gandhi attachment and that's that.
This is the final Gandhi-bot label. It was first used as a paper sticker that was applied to blank cans; a task that is really tedious.
The image was later transposed directly to the can and slightly altered.
The image was later transposed directly to the can and slightly altered.
The original label for the Imperial Stout Trooper (not shown) was altered because of Star Wars copyrights (Yes, there was an official letter from the legal team repp'ing George Lucas). The original label (also not shown) was changed by putting a fake "Groucho" nose and glasses on it to disguise the questionable graphics.
The NEB guys wanted to move farther away from the whole Star Wars reference and asked me to start doing that with their limited, bourbon barrel-aged batch of stout.
Playing with the barrel and the original "Groucho" glasses as a tie-in to the regular Stout Trooper label, this materialized.
The NEB guys wanted to move farther away from the whole Star Wars reference and asked me to start doing that with their limited, bourbon barrel-aged batch of stout.
Playing with the barrel and the original "Groucho" glasses as a tie-in to the regular Stout Trooper label, this materialized.
The final, colorized, federally approved label.
Fine Art
Fine Art
I've been known to create non-commercial art for purchase, for showings, and for commission work as well. The ongoing FLOW series that I have created is ever-expanding and growing; starting in 2D black and white, progressing to 2D with color, and enveloping 3D pieces.
Here are some items for sale with prices for each.
Contact me at crgglbrt13@gmail.com for piece purchases, commission work, or just to say "Hi".
3D Pieces
Here are some items for sale with prices for each.
Contact me at crgglbrt13@gmail.com for piece purchases, commission work, or just to say "Hi".
3D Pieces
