This beer can label design project for Bicycle Craft Brewery celebrates Ottawa’s cultural landscape through thoughtful visual storytelling. Each label is inspired by Anishinaabe legends and symbolic motifs, blending traditional narratives with a contemporary craft-beer aesthetic. The goal was to create designs that feel locally rooted, culturally respectful, and visually compelling on the shelf.
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.
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.
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.
A snapshot of the project's final visual direction...
