Lion-owned Fremantle brewery Little Creatures has refreshed it branding and packaging design of its primary, secondary and tertiary packaging. PKN found out more about the makeover from head brewer, Russ Gosling.
PKN: What graphic elements have been retained?
RUSS GOSLING: The new packaging has retained core elements of the old packaging such as label shape, bottle design and circular Little Creatures logo on the neck of the bottle. The iconic cherub still features on the bottle but now is taking centre stage on the new packaging and the cherub logo still features as an embossing on the glass bottle.
PKN: What's new on the packaging overall – is the embossed cherub on the glass bottle new?
RG: While the embossing on the glass bottle has been retained from the previous design, other major features of the packaging overall have shifted around to add more personality. Each beer’s colours have moved on, been made bolder and now feature a cleaner design. Hand-drawn illustrations, which tell interesting and unique stories around each beer and the Little Creatures brand, feature on various packaging elements. The addition of a flavo-meter that goes from ‘flavour’ to ‘more flavour’ and beer’s descriptor have also been made bolder, which helps our drinkers find the beer that meets their needs based off style preferences, ABV and flavour profile. The font on the labels has also been updated to reflect the fresh, new and consistent look for the Little Creatures family of beers.
PKN: What has changed on the label graphic? Talk us through the different graphic elements/ unique illustrations and the reason they have been used? Is the nutritional panel new?
RG: The unique illustrations correspond to the different stories which make up and have inspired the Little Creatures range of beers, the brand’s history and future legacy. It gives personality and shows why at Little Creatures we have been and will always do things a little differently.
Other changes to the labels include the updated colour schemes to differentiate each beer style in the range; font changes across each label and addition of the flavo-meter and updated descriptors of each beer.
The nutritional panel information is not new, but the font has been slightly updated and now looks more contemporary in line with the packaging refresh. In 2015, Lion served up the beautiful truth about beer by adding nutrition information panels (NIPs) to bottles and cartons of its wholly-owned Australian beer portfolio, which included 887 million bottles (an Australian first).
PKN: What's the notch at the bottom of the label for (centre, under the 330ml) - is that for visual inspection/ alignment on the labelling line?
RG: It’s a combination of alignment leveraging the design to be a key label element.
PKN: Are there any notable changes in the secondary packaging and shipper case?
RG: The secondary packaging for the new 6-pack has better on-shelf presence with the stronger use of colour and use of a single illustrated icon which shows the personality of the brand. The 24-pack case design delivers stronger branding that is also high impact instore thanks to the inclusion of hand drawn illustrations and the cherub being a key design element.
PKN: Have you always had a can for Dog Days, or is that new?
RG: Dog Days, originally in bottle format, was a hophead favourite when it was released as a limited release Summer Seasonal back in October 2015. The message from our fans was loud and clear: they wanted this beer all year round. So for the first time in September 2016, which was also the first time in Little Creatures’ 16 year history, we put Dog Days in a can. Cans have many benefits as a container for beer – lighter, easier to chill and perfect to take to with you to your favourite haunts, cans are able to go many places bottles can’t. They also do a great job of keeping out the sun and sealing in the flavour. Dog Days is the only beer from Little Creatures available in a can format.
SUPPLIERS:
DESIGN STUDIO: Barker Brand Partnerships.
GLASS BOTTLE: O-I
SECONDARY & TERTIARY PACKAGING: Abaris/Orora/Visy
