where design meets refreshment.

Bicycle Craft Brewery: Beer Label Design

Package Design
Print

Label redesign for a local craft beer brewery focusing on creative storytelling and dynamic design, inspired by Ottawa Anishinaabe legends.

Two beer cans on a gray background: Thunderbird Dark Lager with a black bird illustration, and Stillwood Amber with a stylized deer and moon illustration.

Overview

The project reimagines a craft beer label with an emphasis on storytelling and visual impact. Inspired by Ottawa Anishinaabe legends, the design explores how culture and tradition can inform a dynamic, memorable label that stands out on the shelf.

phase 01

Research

The research phase began with understanding Bicycle Craft Brewery’s tone, audience, and existing product lineup to ensure the new labels aligned with the brand’s personality. From there, extensive exploration of Anishinaabe legends, symbolism, and regional history informed the creative foundation. Care was taken to learn about the meaning behind specific symbols and stories so the visual interpretation remained authentic and culturally conscious.

Moodboard with color palettes, font examples, and illustrations of nature scenes including fields, a woman with baskets, lakes, and a coastal town with mountains.
Sketches of two beer cans labeled Thunderbird Lager with a bird and Stillwood Amber with a leaping deer and trees.
phase 02

Ideation

In the ideation stage, early sketches and moodboards helped translate the research into visual concepts. Different ways of interpreting the legends—literal illustrations, symbolic representations, and abstract patterns—were explored to find a direction that honoured the stories while staying modern and marketable. Iterating on colour palettes, compositions, and stylistic approaches helped refine a concept that felt both narrative-driven and cohesive across both labels.

phase 03

Refining

Execution focused on crafting polished illustrations that captured the essence of each legend through bold colour and composition. Label layouts were carefully constructed to balance storytelling artwork with clear hierarchy for product information. Final refinements ensured consistency across the collection—from colour harmony to typographic choices—resulting in a set of cans that stand out visually while remaining true to the cultural inspiration behind them.

Two beer label designs side by side: Stillwood Amber label shows a stylized deer leaping over a minimalist forest landscape with text about its Algonquin and Anishinaabe symbolism; Thunderbird IPA label shows a black thunderbird flying over blue mountains and lake, with descriptive text about its legendary significance.

Final Result

The completed label redesign combines bold visuals and narrative-driven elements inspired by local legends. This project allowed me to deepen my understanding of packaging design, visual hierarchy, and how to translate cultural stories into engaging, market-ready graphics.

Two beer cans on a gray background: Thunderbird Dark Lager with a black bird illustration, and Stillwood Amber with a stylized deer and moon illustration.
Three cans of Thunderbird Dark Lager beer with blue and white labels featuring a black bird and mountain design.
Pile of Thunderbird Dark Lager beer cans featuring a black bird logo on a white and blue background.
Three Stillwood Amber beer cans with blue and orange design featuring a stylized deer and pine trees.
Two aluminum beer cans on a gray background; one shows front design with a black deer and text Stillwood Amber, the other shows the back with ingredients and a barcode.