When BRÚ Brewery and Carrig Brewery merged, we were eager to capture the unique brewing spirit of each brewery across our products and branding.
To accomplish this, we developed two separate core ranges to reflect both old favourite and more adventurous styles, resulting in our BRÚ Core and Urban Jungle series. Each collection had its own identity, so it seemed natural to create a different visual concept for each range. It was important that we clearly communicated with customers what to expect from our beers. We recognised that design plays a huge part in why someone might take a chance on something new, whether it’s on the shelf in their local shop or on keg in a bar.
With our Urban Jungle range, we incorporated some beers that were developed at Carrig by our Head Brewer, Francesco. Because Francesco now oversees the development and brewing of all BRÚ beers, we were excited to adopt some of his favourite recipes.
When adding these recipes to the BRÚ portfolio, we felt it was appropriate to retain the original concept behind these beers—which centred around the idea of unleashing your spiritual animal. We therefore asked both Paolo Rosetti, the artist behind the Urban Jungle concept, and Alessio Sangregorio, the illustrator, to continue to work with us. Thankfully, they both said yes.
To understand the concept of these beautiful and highly detailed hand drawn designs, we asked Paolo a few questions about his work, how he works with Alessio, and the process of creating a label.
Hello Paolo! Please give us a summary of you and your work.
I’m a graphic designer with a foundation and a strong interest in semiotics, anthropology and sociology. In my work, I try to create projects focused on visual communication starting from market research and aiming to give to the product and the company the right identity in the market and to their target audience.
What inspired the Urban Jungle concept?
I was inspired by the multitude of identities in modern society that interact with craft beer. The project tries to describe the contrast that occurs between the strong values in the craft beer community and the desire to consume it in a modern urban context. With the Urban Jungle brand, people are encouraged to strip away their accepted identity and reveal their hidden identity, or their animal spirit.
In order to represent this on a label, I work with Alessio Sangregorio, an illustrator, who develops by hand every illustration I plan. He gives the illustrations an amanuensis design and infuses them with the detail of being crafted by hand, differentiating it from digital illustrations that dominate the market nowadays.
What is your favourite Urban Jungle label to date and why?
My favourite labels are Panda Nero and Tutti Frutti. For Panda Nero, we wanted to communicate impulsivity, a rush and energy; and for Tutti Frutti, we wanted to convey cheerfulness, freshness and happiness.
The first time I drank these two beers, I thought the identities we created conveyed how I felt when I was drinking them. That was hugely satisfying!
What is the process of designing a new beer label from concept to can?
You always start with the product. So, in the briefing with Francesco (Head Brewer) he shows me the characteristics of the product (name, type, alcoholic grade, target audience, colour, smell, taste and other attributes) from which we extract the story and the values to tell. We try to pinpoint the right identity that can communicate one or more characteristics of the product. Then we proceed with the choice of the animal and the elements that should be present in the illustration in order to create a narrative. Once we have decided the elements, Alessio creates a draft in pencil and, after a technical briefing, he proceeds by retracing the illustration in Indian ink. Following this, after a briefing where we decide the colours, he proceeds with the final version of the illustration. I then develop the label for the can.
How long does the entire creative process take?
The duration of the creative process varies; it takes between 8-15 days per label.
So, tell us: what is your spirit animal?
That’s a question I honestly never ask myself, but I may have certain affinities with Atlantic Odyssey bear!
We want to thank Paolo for taking the time to answer these questions, giving us insight into the development of the Urban Jungle concept and for his brilliant work. We love how the illustrations and branding capture the fun and bold characteristics of the range!
For more information on the Urban Jungle beers, check out our other blogs with tasting notes from Francesco, our Head Brewer:
- Introducing Osiris
- Introducing Panda Nero
- Introducing Tutti Frutti
- Introducing Atlantic Odyssey
- Introducing Hop Bomb IPA
For more information, check out the origin story of the Urban Jungle concept here.
Follow Paolo and Alessio on Instagram for more of their art:
Paolo: https://www.instagram.com/__paoloap__/
PrositDesign: https://www.instagram.com/prosit.design/
