Srange brew - on the Art Career Track - art project - Brief Article

Arts & Activities, May, 2003 by Irv Osterer

I had my junior and senior graphic-design classes look at beverage bottles to try and discover what makes an effective label. This labeling is closely linked to graphic conventions adopted by the wine and champagne producers of Europe. Almost all vineyards had their own distinctive name and colors. This was mimicked by the breweries and later by the soft-drink industry to attract consumers.

Students in the junior information-design class had the option of designing a new label for an existing brand or to create their own identity for a 1-liter plastic soft drink bottle. The senior class was assigned a similar project involving a brewery. Both classes were told that they had to consider the image area, how the design would wrap around a curved surface and how it would appear as a multiple on the store shelf.

For the junior class, a precise label template with all product information and UPC code was prepared on the computer, photocopied and distributed to each member of the class. The template was printed at 200 percent (twice the final size) to fit on an 11" x 17" (tabloid size) sheet or so that students would have an easier time rendering their designs. The students quickly discovered that for display purposes their main image had to repeat once on their label.

After several roughs and consultation with the instructor, they were asked to convert their design solutions to a simple keyline black-and-white outline on their template. This master was then photocopied and carefully tipped in with the necessary color using paint, Pantone[R] film, Prismacolor[R] pencil or Tria[R] marker. I found this method effective, because if a student erred in any way, we could always furnish another copy of the line art from his or her master to try again. It also provided a way for students to make more than one bottle and change colors/flavors easily.

When this artwork was completed, each student had their design reduced on a color laser printer by 50 percent. The label was trimmed and spray-mounted to an actual plastic container that had been carefully cleaned and filled with water and food coloring to give the appearance and weight of a real bottle.

Students in the senior design class also had the option of designing a new label for an existing beer or to market a brew of their own invention. [This assignment by no means condones teen-age drinking.--Editor] After preliminary thumbnails, sketches and roughs on paper, the senior information-design class prepared their artwork for output in digital format. Some students used traditional media and then scanned their images into the computer, others created their artwork directly in Adobe[R] Photoshop[R] or Illustrator(r). (A note of caution regarding EPS files generated by Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, as they are incompatible with most inkjet printers without additional postscript software. Most Photoshop documents can be saved as TIFF files.) Student were encouraged to keep all their working drawing for portfolio purposes.

The digital images were saved and imported into QuarkXPress[TM] desktop publishing software, where typographical elements and spot color were added. The labels were then printed on the department's Epson inkjet printer on photo-quality paper with outstanding results. Each student had to carefully cut out his or her label and spray-mount their work onto a clean bottle. Each bottle was then capped and ready for display.

Seniors were also encouraged to use their designs to create a cardboard case to house what we call a "minipac" (12 bottles) here in Canada. To output larger sheets, the school used the services of Cross Concepts in Renfrew, who provided 11" x 17" color laser prints for our students at a very reasonable cost. These sheets were trimmed and spray-mounted onto boxes mocked out of bristol board.

Our bottles and boxes were on display at our final art show and most spectators did a double-take when they saw the quality of the finished work, which was so polished that it rivaled anything seen on the store shelves.

Irv Osterer is Department Head of Fine Arts, Library and Technology at Merivale High School in Nepean, Ontario, Canada.