A mockup showing someone's hand holding a 16-ounce beer can with a colorful label and a digital illustration of a sandwich.

User Research for Product Packaging —

Info

Product Packaging
Role: Graphic Designer
Ongoing
Solo Project

Tools

Google Forms
Adobe Illustrator

Overview

I needed something to do in my free time and I tend to watch a lot of movies. I created a fictional brewery, called Hyperbole, then tested some packaging design so I could make digital illustrations based on the movies I was watching, and keep my Adobe Illustrator skills nice and polished.

Craft Beer Today

We have somewhere around 10,000 breweries in the United States [in 2024], up exponentially from ~3,500 in 2014. (Even at the time I started planning this project in 2021 there were ~9,300 compared to ~2,000 in 2011.) With such an explosion of breweries it means that the available options for consumers have likewise grown. To stand out on the shelf, you need more than just bright colors or great graphics.

A photo of several cooler doors in a store, showing many shelves of colorful craft beer.

©Trong Nguyen * Brewers Association 2017, via EGC Group 2023

Goal: explore consumer-friendly packaging as a way to practice digital illustration skills

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Research & Observations

Observations

Good designs (above): The bestselling beers are either well-known or well-designed. And, from working in liquor sales for 6 years, I can verify that the the most well-designed beers have the brand name/logo and beer style on the same side of the packaging, and all other details are incredibly easy to find. The very best-selling put the logo, style, name, and ABV all in one place.

Bad design (below): Many beers that you'd expect to sell well, because they come from a known brewery or trending style, are so poorly designed that they hardly sell at all.

Takeaway —

Make your information easy to find.

A series of photos of well-designed beer cans showing how easy to read the labels are, with information organized well.

A series of photos of poorly designed beer cans showing that the labels are disorganized and difficult to read, with text jumbled around and information being hard to find.

Public Survey

I posted a survey on Reddit and asked some questions about beer packaging to see if there was any kind of consensus about the info that people need when they're buying beer.

A chart showing survey results. This pie chart shows that 86% of people think that they sometimes know what beer they're going to buy when they arrive to the store.

A chart showing survey results. This bar chart shows that the most important aspects when buying beer are the right style of beer, a reputable brewery, and word of mouth.

A chart showing survey results. This pie chart shows that 74% of people think that the packaging makes a significant impact on which beer they buy.

A chart showing survey results. This part of a bar chart shows that the name of a brewery, the name of the beer, and the style of the beer are basically necessary information to consumers.

A chart showing survey results. This part of a bar chart shows that, as far as consumers are concerned, nutrition facts, malts/yeasts used, and tasting notes are almost useless.

A chart showing survey results. This part of a bar chart shows that details like the story of the brewery, serving tips, and food pairings are unneeded while the beer's ABV is necessary.

What Customers Need to See

Brewery Name/Logo

Style of Beer

ABV

Beer Name

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Testing

Version 1 of a Layout

I wanted to ensure that my fictitious designs would work in the real world so I created a rough layout to print and test.

A beer label layout with rulers to show even spacing.

First Layout

I tried to apply my knowledge in my first layout: brewery name/logo, beer style, beer name, and ABV on on vertical face of the label. (Alcohol layouts also require a surgeon general's warning, origin, size, and notation of recycling refund.)

Digital Test

I created a quick digital illustration and filled out the text fields to get a sense for how well the layout could be used.

Physical Test

Of course if we're talking about reality I had to test the label on a real can. What good would a test be, otherwise? You can see that that the text needs a little more breathing room at the top and bottom of the label.