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Athletic Brewing packaging

Images from the packaging case study by Fair Folk

Athletic Brewing

trailhead poster cans under a wheat-stalk monogram

Athletic Brewing builds every can around a fixed upper half: an arched 'non-alcoholic brew' line at the rim, a large italic slab capital A crossed by a wheat stalk, and the condensed wordmark stacked beneath it in Trail Navy (#14354d). The beer's name then sits in a small coloured box over the style in spaced capitals, and the lower third becomes a flat, layered landscape (rolling hills with a winding path, a breaking wave, a river) in the can's colour family. Each core beer owns one body colour, while seasonal and cocktail-inspired cans swap the landscape for a bold two-colour horizontal split, a quoted name and a small drink icon; collaborations take the whole can over with illustration.

  • Beer & aperitifs
  • Light pack
  • Bold typographic
  • Colour-coded range
  • Retro illustrated

Color Palette

Approximate colours interpreted from photography. These are screen references, not official brand colours or print specifications.

Pack body

  • Bare Aluminium

    #c3c5c6

    Unprinted can end, ring pull and base rim on every can

  • Lager Cream

    #eee3c9

    Full body colour of the Mexican-style lager and the lower band of the light lager

Label

  • Lite White

    #f6f6f3

    Upper body of the light lager can, carrying the gold monogram

Ink

  • Trail Navy

    #14354d

    Monogram, wordmark, style line and the darkest layer of every landscape

Accent

  • Barley Gold

    #e4b84f

    Beer-name box, winding path in landscapes and the monogram on the light lager

Range coding

  • Run Teal

    #2fa6b8

    Body colour and hill layers of the flagship IPA

  • Hazy Terracotta

    #e0745a

    Body colour and river landscape of the hazy IPA tallboy

  • Paloma Coral

    #e0566a

    Upper half of the split cocktail-inspired can, behind the monogram

  • Grapefruit Yellow

    #f3d22c

    Lower half of the split cocktail can and the drink icon field

  • Pumpkin Orange

    #e0782a

    Body of the autumn seasonal can with a tonal leaf pattern

Typography

Suggested visual alternatives, not confirmed brand typefaces. Any scale below is an illustrative estimate.

The italic slab A monogram is the largest element, centred in the upper half. The condensed wordmark sits directly beneath it with a smaller 'brewing co.' line. The beer name comes next, framed in a small contrasting box or set large in quotes on seasonals, with the beer style in spaced capitals below; the arched alcohol line at the shoulder and the volume at the base are the quietest text.

Type scale

Estimated cap size as a share of the panel · Printed wall of the 12 oz (355 ml) can, about 105 mm tall from shoulder to base bead

  • monogram

    26% · Bold Italic · Display

    T

  • seasonal-name

    9% · Bold · Headline

    “SUNSET”

  • wordmark

    8% · Bold · Headline

    TRAIL

  • beer-name-box

    4% · SemiBold · Headline

    RIDGE RUN

  • beer-style

    3.5% · Bold · Label

    HAZY IPA

  • sub-wordmark

    2.8% · SemiBold · Headline

    BREWING CO.

Fonts

  • Display

    Zilla Slab

    Looks like
    Custom italic slab capital, close to Clarendon Bold Italic
    Type
    Heavy italic slab serif capital used as a single-letter monogram
    Weight
    Bold Italic
    Case
    Uppercase single letter
    Tracking
    n/a
    Fallback
    Rockwell Bold Italic, Georgia Bold Italic

    The monogram letter only, crossed diagonally by a wheat stalk, printed in Trail Navy or Barley Gold.

  • Headline

    Oswald

    Looks like
    Trade Gothic Bold Condensed No. 20
    Type
    Bold condensed grotesque
    Weight
    SemiBold, Bold
    Case
    Uppercase
    Tracking
    Slightly open, about +2%
    Fallback
    Franklin Gothic Condensed, Arial Narrow Bold

    Wordmark, the 'brewing co.' line, the beer name inside its box and quoted seasonal names.

  • Label

    Barlow Condensed

    Looks like
    Trade Gothic Condensed, slab-mono descriptor on some cans
    Type
    Condensed neutral grotesque
    Weight
    Medium, Bold
    Case
    Uppercase
    Tracking
    Wide, about +12% on style lines
    Fallback
    Arial Narrow, Helvetica Condensed

    Arched shoulder claim, beer style in spaced capitals, flavour lines and the volume at the base.

Structure & Proportions

Proportions

PurposeValuePreview
Brand block heightAbout 45% of the printed wall, shoulder to the bottom of the wordmark
Monogram heightAbout 26% of the printed wall
Landscape bandAbout 30% of the wall at the base on core cans
Seasonal split lineColour change at about 55% down the wall, just under the wordmark
Wordmark widthAbout 32% of the can circumference, i.e. most of the front face
Colours per canThree to four flat colours: body, navy ink, one accent, one landscape tone—
DensityOpen upper half, busier illustrated lower third—

Shapes

ElementValuePreview
Beer-name boxSmall horizontal rectangle with square corners
Shoulder claimText set on a shallow arc following the can shoulder
LandscapeLayered rolling hills and wave crests
Seasonal splitStraight horizontal two-colour division
Award and size calloutsSolid roundels on e-commerce renders and carton fronts

Finishes

  • Gloss printed aluminium

    Full can wall · gloss

  • Bare aluminium

    Can end, neck and base rim · metallic

  • Matte printed board

    Multipack carriers · matte

Formats and materials

Formats12 oz can, 19.2 oz tallboy can, Variety multipack
MaterialsAluminium, Paperboard multipack carton
ClosuresStandard ring-pull can ends left bare aluminium
DecorationWheat-stalk monogram, Arched shoulder text, Flat layered landscape illustration, Two-colour horizontal split on seasonals, Small line icon of a cocktail

Front Panel

Schematic reading order. The diagram’s zone heights do not represent measured artwork proportions.

Full-wrap printed can divided into three bands: brand and claim in the upper half, product box in the middle, illustration in the lower third.

ZoneContent
ShoulderArched 'non-alcoholic brew' line and alcohol limit
Upper halfItalic A monogram with wheat stalk, stacked condensed wordmark
MiddleBeer name in a coloured box, style in spaced capitals
Lower thirdFlat landscape of hills, waves or ridges, with the volume line at the base

Range System

The upper brand block never moves; each beer is coded by a body colour, a landscape scene and a name-box colour, while limited releases replace the landscape with a two-colour split and quoted name, and collaborations take over the whole can with illustration.

  • IPA = teal can, teal hills, gold winding path
  • Light lager = white and cream can, gold monogram
  • Mexican-style lager = cream can, blue wave
  • Hazy IPA = terracotta tallboy with river landscape
  • Cocktail-inspired = coral top, yellow bottom, quoted name and drink icon
  • Autumn seasonal = orange can, tonal leaf pattern, slanted name

Back of Pack & Shelf

The rear half of the can repeats the body colour with a narrow column of navy text beside the barcode, and the side carries the brand story and ingredient line, all in one or two flat colours.

  • Short description of the beer's taste and calories in condensed capitals
  • Ingredients line (water, malted grains, hops, yeast) and allergen note
  • Nutrition facts panel in navy on the body colour
  • UPC barcode on a white rectangle
  • Deposit and recycling marks with state codes
  • Brewery address and website in small capitals

On shelf

In the cooler, the identical monogram and wordmark line up across every can so the range reads as one brand, while the body colours (teal, cream, coral and yellow, terracotta) separate the beers from a distance.

Imagery

Flat, layered vector landscapes in three or four tones of the can colour, outdoor and route-like (a path, a river, a wave), with no outlines and no photography; seasonals use a single small line icon of a glass with fruit.

Guidelines

Do

  • Fix the brand block in the upper 45% of the wall: arched claim, monogram at about 26% height, stacked condensed wordmark.
  • Give each core beer one body colour and a matching three-tone landscape in the lower 30%.
  • Print the monogram, wordmark and style line in Trail Navy (#14354d) on all mid and light bodies.
  • Frame the beer name in a small Barley Gold (#e4b84f) or white rectangle with the style in spaced Label capitals beneath.
  • For seasonal cans, split the body into two flat colours just under the wordmark and put the name in quotes in the Headline face.
  • Leave the can end and base rim as bare aluminium.

Don't

  • Don't move or resize the monogram between beers.
  • Don't use outlined or detailed illustration on core cans; keep scenes flat and tonal.
  • Don't set the wordmark in serif or script; only the monogram is a slab.
  • Don't use photography on the can.
  • Don't put more than two flat colours plus navy ink on a seasonal split can.
  • Don't print the beer name larger than the wordmark except for quoted seasonal names.

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