Say “mace” to local graphic designer Josh Rowan, and instead of conjuring an unimaginative can of tear gas (like we did), he’ll draw you an armor-clad Viking polar bear wielding a ferocious spiked club. It’s this battle-ready beast that guards the bottle of one of 4 Hands Brewing Co.’s newest brews, Bear Mace Baltic Porter.
Shortly after opening 4 Hands two years ago, Kevin Lemp was on the hunt for a local artist who could produce distinct, eye-catching labels. The designer also needed to keep up with the young brewery’s rapidly growing portfolio while staying true to the style of its first four label designs. “We made a commitment early on to not just create beer labels. Our goal was to create artwork and put it on the outside of our beer bottles,” Lemp said.
Rowan’s first design for 4 Hands, the label for Cuvee Ange, featured a winged goblet with waves of beer sloshing over the rim. The image drew from his background as a tattoo artist, with its heavily outlined chalice and Japanese-inspired waves. “There is a definite outline and structure to most of the images,” he said. “If the color was pulled out, you’re left with an image that can be reproduced as a tattoo, more or less.”
Two years and 15 labels later, those same striking colors and bold lines make 4 Hands’ brews so easy to spot amid rows of tap handles and bottles. “To put something like that – that has a little bit of a childish whimsical feel about it – on a product that is definitely meant for adults is a fun thing,” Rowan said.
This article appears in April 2014.