War Horse Brewing cans featured vintage-inspired artwork that creates memorable individual products, but the overall lineup lacked a cohesive visual system and immediately recognizable brand presence. As the brewery expanded into statewide distribution, shelf recognition became increasingly important. Pulling from a shoebox full of inspiration, current beverage packaging trends, and both on- and off-premise sales data, I developed a packaging system that felt both eye-catching and informative. The redesigned packaging system creates strong consistency across the portfolio while remaining flexible enough to support a wide range of beer styles, seasonal releases, and illustrative themes.

Through customer and floor staff interviews, I identified a second shopper to consider when evaluating visual hierarchy: the style shopper. Just as many customers searched by beer style as by brand recognition.

In the redesign, nearly a third of the label is dedicated to informational hierarchy. Beer styles are designed to be recognizable at shopping distance and walking speed, while supporting details and product stats are intended to be read with the can in hand.

The new system went to production in Q1 2025 and has been used in dozens of SKUs and thousands of cases of new and returning varieties.

Merchandise featuring the new layout was produced for the brewery taproom and gift shop. Posters, tin signs, coasters, vehicle wrap, and jockey boxes were made up for wholesale team use.

A custom mock-up was made from a photo of a blank silver can placed on the brewery bar, and is usable for social media posts, wholesale portfolios, and customer newsletter blasts.