Case Study: Dick’s Brewing Company
We’ve designed and redesigned plenty of beer labels over the years—but it’s not every day that an iconic brewery approaches us to rework the labels that have been tied to their beer for more than two decades.
So to say the pressure was on when Dick’s Brewing Company approached us to do just that ... well, it felt a bit like the decision to remake “Point Break” in 2015: How could we put a modern spin on an all-time classic without falling on our faces and besmirching the original’s good name?
Here’s how it all went down:
The legendary Dick Young opened Northwest Sausage & Deli in 1983 in Centralia, serving up house-smoked meats in a comfortable deli atmosphere. Young was bitten by the brewing bug in the early 1990s—and was churning out some of the region’s most popular ales and lagers under the Dick’s Brewing Company banner by 1994.
Young passed away in 2009, but his legacy lives on in the old-school illustrated labels—one featuring an eyepatch-wearing bull, another spotlighting a tractor from the Young family farm—that he personally approved. Those recognizable labels still adorn Dick’s Brewing bottles today.
Young’s daughter, Julie Pendleton, took over Dick’s Brewing after he passed and has kept the family business going strong ever since. Most recently, she approached us about designing labels for the brewery’s first-ever canned beers—a Mexican lager, an American lager, and a hazy IPA.
We understand the close connection that regional residents have with Dick’s Brewing Company; our founder, Michael Perozzo, grew up in Centralia and saw firsthand how beloved the brewery really is. So when we accepted the assignment, we did so understanding that it wasn’t just Julie we’d have to please; it was 25 years’ worth of loyal Dick’s drinkers we were working for. No pressure!
Before putting pen to paper, we stepped back and considered the broader Dick’s brand: Its beer labels to date have centered on iconic illustrations, so we wanted to retain that sense of whimsy and playfulness. (That meant text-driven or photo-heavy labels were out.) We also wanted to introduce the brand to a new generation of fans who aren’t quite as tied to bottles, so we opted for a cleaner, more modern look. And, finally, we knew Dick’s to be a fun brand—they call their fans “Beer Test Dummies”, after all—so we tried to inject a little silliness into the labels.
Yet we knew what made the Dick’s brand work and tried not to stray too far from those well-known roots. So, on top of the whimsy and silliness, we wanted to use nostalgia as a tool for appealing to a younger generation—and to that crowd, in particular, stickers are extremely nostalgic. So we gave each of the label illustrations a thick white border, similar to how stickers are designed.
The sense of fun and silliness came through clearly in our label for El Ricardo, a crisp Mexican lager; the illustration features a sombrero-wearing lime, which is perhaps the very definition of “silly.” The Straight Coastin’ label depicts a Centralian couple enjoying life on an ATV over the dunes of the Washington Coast, and the Silver Mullet label features a nod to Dick Young, who loved riding his Harley. (The name “Silver Mullet” and the rider’s flowing locks even show up silver on the can for an added pop of metallic flourish.)
In the end, our friends at Dick’s loved how these first three labels met their goals. We've even heard from fans on social media and over the counter at Dick’s deli who call the labels an eye-catching success—unlike the 2015 remake of “Point Break”, which … the less said, the better.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
Michael Perozzo: Account management, art direction, market analysis, social strategy and Beer Nerds Virtual Pub live stream on release day
Andrew Cooper and Will Smith: Social media planning and implementation
Ashley Jhaveri: Design concept, design execution, client proofing, delivery, on-site support on release day
Josh Tibbits: Video production, pre-production, camera work and direction.
Will Smith: Acting, vocal audio recording.
Michael, Ashley, Josh and Will all collaborated in writing the script for the Silver Mullet video