Sólstingur Beer Label

ILLUSTRATION
LABEL DESIGN
BEER PACKAGING

Client

Segull 67 Brugghús, an independent craft brewery based in Siglufjörður, Iceland, known for its small-batch beers inspired by local culture, nature and community.

Brief

I was commissioned to create the label for Segull 67’s seasonal summer ale, Sólstingur (meaning sunstroke in Icelandic). The beer was intended as a playful, lighthearted summer release, something refreshing, characterful and slightly tongue-in-cheek. I was given permission to ‘go wild’.

Segull’s Head brewer and owner, Marteinn, was drawn to my initial sketch: a loose, sun-drenched illustration to capture the beer’s name and mood. The goal was to create something that felt instantly summery, fun and visually unique. Something that would stand out on shelves and appeal to both locals and tourists.

Outcome

The final label features a hand-drawn, sketch-style illustration of mountains melting their snowcaps and guzzling beer to keep sunstroke at bay, joined by a local bird, the kría. This label embraced a deliberately casual hand-drawn aesthetic, charming and a little absurd in the best way. It was printed and released as part of Segull 67’s summer series, capturing the brewery’s relaxed seasonal vibe.

During the process, I also developed further iterations; vectorised, stylised versions with refined line-work, composition, and colour palette. These were part of my creative exploration and pushed the visual direction in a more polished, contemporary direction. While these weren’t chosen, they formed an important part of the process and allowed me to fully develop the concept from rough to refined.

This was a fun and fast-paced project with a great local client. It reminded me of the value of spontaneity in design, how sometimes an offhand sketch can best capture the essence of a product.