Aloha Series — Crystal Peck

THE CLIENT: Kona Brewing Co., Craft Brew Alliance | THE TEAM: Flint Design Co.; Catherine Healy, Creative Director; Hogan Johnson, Development Director; Shannon Prichard, Pilsner Take-Down | THE PARTNERS: Jeff Foster, Illustration | MY ROLE: Concept Generation, Lead Design, Illustration Art Direction, Print Production, Print Vendor Coordination

Kona Brewing Co. was ready to revamp their seasonal release program, and wanted to make it a testing ground for new, more innovative brews. This meant the designs needed to be more flexible than the previous design program, so that they could iterate on a dime.

Inspired by the iconic Endless Summer poster, I developed the concept and art directed a series of illustrations that celebrate some of Hawaii’s favorite activities, bringing the spirit of Kona and an endless summer to the hands of consumers.

Like all Kona illustrations, this series brings Hawaii to consumers by inviting them into the scene – with an extra set of gear awaiting their arrival.

I created flavor-specific patterns featuring the unique ingredients from each brew – after all, what is an “Aloha Series” without some Aloha Shirt-style florals?!

As the first of their beers to be released exclusively in cans, I took the final production process into account when developing the concept. The bold, retro-inspired graphics fit the nostalgic aesthetic of the brand and are perfectly suited for the limited color and print capabilities on cans.

I met the client’s need for flexibility by centering the concept around re-using the same series of illustrations for new beers. All that was needed was a quick color and typography update. Packaging for new brews in the series could now be executed in a fraction of the time that was needed for the more detailed illustrations of the previous design program.