I was very fortunate in 2017 to meet the owners of the not-yet-open Ocean View Brew Works in Albany, CA and discuss their need of a logo — over a couple of delicious ales from the brand-new brewery! The result is this colorful, classic logo, showing the only view of the Pacific Ocean possible from Albany — out the Golden Gate.
To bring a little more of the ocean closer to our view, I asked my friend Humphrey the Humpback Whale to come back to the bay with something good to drink and here he is with a barrel of Ocean View ale! There are also six famous historic buildings visible here, can you find them all?
I had a galaxy of fun creating this can label for a collaboration brew by Ocean View Brew Works and Federation Brewing in Oakland! Federation has a science fiction theme, so I combined that with Ocean View’s neighboring Albany Hill and a few space whales to represent both breweries. I even got to suggest the name, as “Martian City” is what my brother and I used to call Oakland’s Grove-Shafter Interchange when we were kids, and those swooping freeway ramps connect Albany to downtown Oakland as much as the bay fog. I couldn’t draw any of the Martian cars, they were going too fast— but my Martian friend is hoppy to share all their beers with us!
Here’s a bottle label for a delicious bourbon-barrel aged imperial stout, using Buffalo Trace whiskey barrels. I once got chased by a buffalo, it was a most exhilarating experience! This beer, on the other hand, is a very relaxing experience, as you can see from our snoozing buffalo friend.
This 32-oz. “Crowler” can label was a lot of fun to draw, as it afforded me a large canvas for sea and sky! There were many different versions of this label over time, with small differences here and there. Sometimes the approaching vessel was a pirate ship, or the purple sea serpent would be replaced with a mermaid, or the whale would have a beach ball on his spout instead of a barrel. Now of course, they are all highly sought-after collectibles, and worth millions of dollars each! Perhaps.
The Slayzzonn special strong ale was a monster of a beer made for Halloween 2019, and special black t-shirts were made with this post-apocalyptic version of the OV logo. This version of the Bay Area looks like it’s seen better days, hopefully no one got this trashed by drinking too much Slayzzonn!
OVBW Whale Tattoo
Whale Tattoo
Halloween Brew 2020
2-Color Shirt Print
