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Modern Times Beer

Packaging

More Info +

Services

Brand Merchandise & Apparel
Brand Messaging
Packaging System
Identity System

Team

Christian Helms, Simon Walker

Awards

Austin ADDY Awards – Silver
Dieline
AIGA Texas Show – Packaging

The Story

Modern Times founder Jacob McKean named the brewery after a utopian community founded in New York, and modeled the brand narrative after historic visionaries and their idealistic dreams of the future.

In exploring packaging our team crafted cans with subtle nods to forward-looking historic icons Raymond Loewy and Norman Bel Geddes, as well as contemporary aesthetic revisionists like Wes Anderson. Through that juxtaposition we arrived at a packaging system that feels like a Mad Men-era vision for a beer of the future, borrowing typography from the past combined with sleek, refined graphic patterns.

The boundary-pushing approach to packaging married perfectly with the soul of the brand, complemented by wildly inventive taproom spaces with quirky names like The Flavordome, Dankness Dojo and Leisuretown. Copy flourishes call out the brewery’s vibe of “epic chillness,” and crisp combinations of “bangin’ hops and quenching drinkability.” A small easter egg playfully notes, “this beer is vegan.”

Modern Times launched like a rocket, blowing past the brewery’s five-year financial projections in its first twelve months. It quickly became one of the fastest growing breweries in the country, landing in the top 1% of craft breweries in the nation by volume. In just a few short years Modern Times Beer grew from a small operation into a regional beer powerhouse.

“Modern Times reflects a true collaboration, and we couldn’t be more pleased. The cans are so devastatingly tasteful, a koozie would be a crime.”

Jacob McKean
Founder
Helms Workshop®