Arts and Craft Breweries: A Look at Fort Collins Craft Beer and Their Artwork

Arts and crafts are two things that pair together flawlessly. Now, of course “crafts” is referring to craft beer since crafting art is hard, at least for most of us.

However, for the people that happen to possess enough talent to call themselves artists, beer lovers appreciate you. Craft breweries create great opportunities for these artists to get their label out to the public without being extremely well known.

How many people have purchased a beer just off of the fact that it had an appealing label? Most of us have, whether we want to admit it or not. So, it’s only right to dive in and take a look at the designs from four of Fort Collins’ most popular craft breweries.

We will need to venture into a liquor store to get a closer look, for research of course.

First, we have the colorful and visually striking artwork of Odell Brewing Company.

Right away, it is obvious to tell that Odell has an incredibly unique style, utilizing col0r and line work. These artists aim to mirror the unique and flavorful beers of Odell through their visuals.

Even their bottles, cans, and tap handles focus on the details, a staple of their brand.

Next, we have the New Belgium Brewing Company, by far the most popular brewery in Fort Collins.

New Belgium, while still incorporating multiple different techniques in their artwork, use a much more minimalistic style than Odell. At any liquor store, they are likely to have to most colorful cooler in the store, drawing customer’s eyes to their products first.

New Belgium also focuses a lot of effort into their tap handles, especially with their most popular beers that have the biggest chance of landing in a bar or restaurant.

Shifting focus from large craft breweries onto its smaller and more locally operating counterparts, we have the Fort Collins Brewery.

FCB uses a simple, yet cartoonish design that works beautifully on both the cans and the packaging. While many breweries are attempting to design the most intricate and visually intense labels, FCB has successfully developed effective simple and unique artwork.

Last, but not least, Funkwerks remains.

In terms of simplicity, Funkwerks, Inc, seems to take the top spot. This strategy is effective in a few ways, drawing the customer in with a blast of color while also making their beers easily distinguishable.

Each brewery has something to admire about their appealing designs. Drinking a delicious craft beer out of a piece of art only makes the experience that much more enjoyable. Inevitably the research took a personal turn, so now it’s time to enjoy a few of these tasteful brews for myself.