Tombstone Brewing Co.
Tombstone Brewing sells a line of limited-edition, barrel-aged beers named after the Arizona town that’s “too tough to die.” When Matt first reached out to me about designing Tombstone labels, he wanted branding that could reflect the essence of the gritty Western town, but also signal the beer’s top-shelf quality. He also envisioned the cans becoming collector items for the ravenous beer nerd community.
→ Creative Direction / Illustration / Packaging
Our collaboration has expanded to include branding for many of the company’s varieties and seasonals, each brewed in small batches, and each harkening back to that same edgy energy.
The success of the Tombstone series sparked the idea to name batches after other landmarks. I’m proud to be a part of the naming process for several of these, including “Lucky Cuss,” named after one of the most successful silver mines in Arizona. Originally, these small batches were brewed for a regional customer base; due to their popularity, distribution has widened.
The Ukrainian Anti-Imperialist Stout was easily the most controversial design I’ve ever worked on. These sold out fast.
This series was named after the infamous “cheat code” popularized by the NES game Contra. I had a blast figuring out how to do 8 / 16 bit full-resolution images (the artwork is 256px wide at 72dpi).
I’ve always been a huge fan of pixelated art in general, and old school platformers specifically, so this was a fun opportunity to go all in. Each design is based on a style of game or bit resolution:
Up Up down down is designed to resemble gameboy adventure games.
Left Right Left Right is designed to resemble platformers like Bionic Commando or Metroid.
B+A Start is designed to feel like Gauntlet or the Legend of Zelda.
Everyone of a certain age is familiar with the original 1980s computer game Oregon Trail, so Tombstone Brewing spoofed the green screen artwork for their IPA series Oregon Lots. I was tasked with making an Oregon Lots II redesign as an homage to Oregon Trail II, the game that came out for Windows 95.
This was fertile ground for inspired 32bit graphics,– combined with CD-ROM-style game interfaces and type treatments. As you can see in the game screenshots, Cedric, the youngest hop, died of thirst.
Finally, I had a lot of fun with this one, a dark beer for the spooky season. I channeled the gothic goodness of Interview with the Vampire and combined it with Edward Gorey-inspired backgrounds, some creepy drawings, and the typeface used on the book cover for Rivals of Dracula. That cover is priceless.
