Black Perle Label for RJ Rockers

For this project, I teamed up with Spartanburg, SC based brewery RJ Rockers to design a label for their latest seasonal beer release, Black Perle Dark IPA. The Black Perle is the first in the “Ales from the Dark Side” line, and we wanted the label to carry a mysterious and ominous theme. The story behind the beer tells of a lost 17th century trading company ship, the Harvester, that was carrying a “strange and wondrous cargo,” the Black Perle. To go along with this theme, I chose a rough old-style serif font to set both the logo and the main copy in. The setting on the label is a deep blue underwater scene with rays of light coming down from the top and bubbles floating up from the ocean floor. Front and center, there is a treasure chest with a large hop in it (Perle refers to a type of hop). If you look closely on the right-hand side of the label, you’ll see the shipwreck of the Harvester.

They topped off the bottle by dipping the neck in a blue wax to compliment the deep blue label. For a review of the beer itself, I’ll leave it to the experts. I’m currently working through conceptual artwork for the next RJ Rockers release, so be on the lookout!