Thunder Canyon Beer & Spirits Packaging
Hard Tea Branding and Packaging for good friends, good spirits, and good friends in good spirits.
Role
Illustration • Packaging Design
Scope
Illustration • Packaging Design • Merchandise
Agency & Year
Freelance | 2018 – 2023
Thanks to
Steve Tracy - Owner of TCB (Now BrickBox)
Charlie Keswani - Formerly TCB, Occult Distilling
Thunder Canyon Brewery was Tucson’s first brewery. By the time they came to me, they wanted to revamp their existing line of beer, which were just flat color cans that didn’t stand out against the competition. I built an illustrated visual system that was anchored on the idea of telling a story as you turned the can, revealing more of the story the closer you looked. As their success grew, we scaled from just beer to rum, vodka, and canned cocktails.
The Full Story
I started with their flagship, Deep Canyon Amber Ale. I illustrated the canyon from a bird’s eye view, putting the person holding the can in the air, flying in the canyon alongside the birds, rather than just looking at the landscape from the ground. Every can carried a story as you turned it, with small details tucked in. The printing process had a white substrate underneath the artwork, allowing me to make some parts of the design shinier than the rest of the matte can design, catching the light and the eye of the viewer. This same approach extended across the rest of the line, from the Sky Island Pale Ale to their Spiced Rum.
As the project expanded throughout the years, I worked on a line of rums and vodka and canned cocktails. The visual language of the cans, the small strip at the bottom with a diamond, creating a window for the illustrations, was the main element of the alcohol bottles. They became very type forward, with supporting illustrations in the same style in the background. It created a cohesive line that allowed for uniqueness amongst the products.
