Keep your distance…

Posted on by The shortbread shed

… With a Social –––––––––––Distance beer!

This image shows the beer label on the bottle in the folded down position.

So as you may or may not know, I enjoy making home brew beer. For me, it’s a win-win kind of a thang! I get to make beer and of course drink it, I also get to be creative by making a beer bottle label every time I make a batch!

This time, heading into autumn, I thought it had to be the turn for a dark stout kind of a brew! Wholesome and warming, a chocolaty, comforty kind of a mix!

Now to the creative part, the label creation and design and what to call this batch? Well, there was only one thing I could call it after all this craziness that’s been happening over the past few months!

There have been so many incredible words appearing due to the Covid-19 virus which have been used to explain and describe the pandemic that I couldn’t miss the opportunity to use one of them to christen my new beer.

The front part of the label has been lifted from the back and is in the ready position to be pulled open.

It was a tough choice, but in the end, I settled on Social Distance. It’s not only a good name that has certainly got people talking and participating in over these last few months, but I thought I could incorporate the words quite easily into something rather creative for the label.

This image shows the label pulled open, revealing a dotted line and the ‘2m’ square, representing the required social distance. Underneath the line is a selection of some of the key technical, explanatory and some rather funny and creative new made-up words just for the pandemic.

I thought it would be fun to play around with the name and somehow show or represent a separation between them (as in, keep your distance). I also wanted a bit of interaction to come into play with the label, so it’s not just a visual piece of design, its also a tactile, touchy-feely kind of a label to.

There are two signs on each side of the label informing you to pull. Once you pull open, the label expands to three times its flat size to reveal the hidden insides. I used yellow and red stripes to represent a warning/hazard sign. The dotted line and the 2m square in the middle represent the social distance space we all need to try and adhere to these days.

Below the dotted line are just a few of my favourite words I’ve heard in the various media that made me chuckle. Some I’ve heard before, some are completely new and some are bonkers, made up words by marketeers to help describe and give labels to the Covid!

My favourite part about the design is the way the words Social Distance start next to each other, but when you open up the label they become separated and distant, giving the impression of a social distance sign that is now commonplace and everywhere you go these days!

Once you open up the label you will see a hidden message on the reverse of the left and right-hand side. On one side there’s an illustration and wording informing you to wear a face masked, while on the other is an illustration and a reminder to wash your hands.

On the back of the right-hand side label there’s an illustration of a face mask and a reminder to wear your face mask.
On the back of the left-hand side label there’s an illustration of washing hands and a reminder to wash your hands.
Labels ready to be applied to the bottles
A closeup of one of the labels before being applied to the bottles

Below is the flat artwork created for the beer bottle labels.

You can read below some of the many incredible words that have made it into the everyday common language and conversations since the pandemic came to our shores.

Air bridge / An abundance of caution / Antibody tests / Avoid all unnecessary gatherings / Blursday / Bubble / Challenging times / China virus / Contact tracing / Containment phase / Coronalusional / Corona virus / Coronials / Cover your mouth and nose / Covexit / Covideo party / Covid-19 / Covidiot / Crisis / Critical workers / Daily exercise / Daily press briefing / Delay phase / Do not travel / Do not use public transport unless absolutely necessary / Doomscrolling / Don’t go to work / Epidemic / Essential items / Face masks / Flatten the curve / Fourteen days self-isolation at home / Furlough / Global pandemic / Hand sanitizer / Hazmat suit / Herd immunity / Incubation period / Intensive care / key workers / Lockdown / Lockstalgia / Loxit / Maskhole / Mass gatherings / Mental health / Miley cyrus / Mitigation phase / Naswal swab / National lockdown / New normal / One form of exercise a day / Pandemic / Panic buying / PPE / Prone position / Protect the NHS / Quaranbaking / Quaran-stream / Quaranteams / Quarantine / Quarantini / Regional lockdown / Respirator / Return to normal / Return to work / R number / R0 value / Ronavation / SAGE / Save lives / Save the NHS / Second wave / Self-isolating / Shielding / Shopping for basic necessities / Shop responsibly / Social distancing / Spendemic / Spike in infections / Stay alert. Control the virus. Save lives. / Stay at home / Stay at home for 14 days / Stay at home. Protect the NHS. / Stay indoors / Stay safe / Super spreader / Test and trace / The Rona / Toilet paper / Track and trace / Traffic light system / Travel corridors / Two metre rule / Uncertain / Underlying health condition / Unprecedented / Ventilators / Virus / Volunteer / Wash your hands / We can turn the tide / We have a clear plan / We’re all In this together / Wet Market / WFH / WHO / Wuhan / You must stay at home / Zoom bombing / Zumped. 

So to sum up: Keep your distance, wash your hands and wear a face mask! See you on the other side and don’t forget to drink responsibly.

Unknown's avatar

Published by The shortbread shed

I'm Mike, a graphic designer and photographer with a passion for all things creative. This blog is where I share my inspirations, creative adventures, and the incredible things that spark my curiosity.

Leave a comment