HAWK Design & Creative

BEER CAN LABEL DESIGN

Opportunity

Buffalo 9 Brewing is an award-winning craft brewery located in Calgary, Alberta. Dedicated to telling the stories of Canada's military history, each Buffalo 9 can is themed after a different moment in history. Their New England IPA is inspired by Canada's role in the Battle for Vimy Ridge. Buffalo 9 asked us to make the story come to life.

Approach

Buffalo 9 wanted to tell the story of Vimy Ridge, a critical battle in WWI France. Canadian troops began their seige of Vimy Ridge on Easter morning, 1917. Through sleet, gunfire and mud, they eventually defeated German troops for the high ground on the ridge. We used these details to inform the gritty textures and colour palette of the final beer can label design.

Copywriting

Because storytelling is such an important part of Buffalo 9 Brewing, we wanted this first label to establish a war-dairy look and feel. The story is told in the first person and uses rich descriptions. Graphics are sketched as if out of a note book, with rough watercolour and map textures making up the background.

Together for the first time

This battle represented the first time all four Canadian divisions fought together, an important moment in Canada’s war history. We wanted to include the historic fact in the overall story of the label.

Branded collateral

For Canadian soldiers in WWI France, much of the time was spent in cold and muddy trenches. The illustration for the Ridge by Midday can shows a group of soldiers sitting together in a trench, waiting to go over and across no man's land.

Solution

HAWK worked with Buffalo 9 to develop a unique beer can label design inspired by the story of Vimy Ridge. We developed a war diary theme through custom illustration, thoughtful background textures and copy using a first-person narrative. This label has since been recognized by Design Rush in the category of best packaging designs of 2021-2022.