Concrete Dinosaur Brown Rye IPA

Designer: Andy Tyra
Project Type: Produced, Commercial Work
Client: Right Brain Brewery
Location: Milwaukee, USA
Packaging Contents: Beer
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Laminated Paper Label, Cardboard
Printing Process: Digital Printing

Design for a delicious IPA made with brown rye. The name stemmed from a very innocuous source: a dinosaur-shaped stain on a concrete floor of the brewery near the mash tun where the beer was brewed. This IPA won a silver medal at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival.

I tried a few versions including one with a T-Rex. The approved art was based on roadside attractions featuring big concrete dinosaurs that are usually painted bright colors. The beer is unusual yet classic in the same manner as those roadside attractions. The result was a design that was very different than any of my previous work. I really wanted to allow the viewer to “explore” the image.

The packaging included was a 12oz bottle label, a 22oz bottle label, and a 6-pack carrier design for 12oz bottles.

What’s Unique?
There are many “easter eggs” in this design including signage for actual businesses related to the brewery, a yellow custom van that appeared in another label, and a tiny Pterodactyl on the far right. For the 6-pack carrier, I chose to do something a bit different on the ends, allowing the package to tell more of a story.