S&N's challenge was to help redress the poor sales of Newcastle Brown Ale in cans, which contrasted considerably with the success of their bottled version - especially popular with students.
Our proposal was to change the can's appearance to closer resemble the bottle. This was achieved by swapping the existing chocolate-brown background to the familiar reddish-brown of the bottled beer. Black illustrations were used to emulate the dark shadows seen within the bottle. These illustrations, evocative of old Soviet propaganda posters, pay tribute to the shipyard and mining industries of the Tyneside area.
The central label was stripped of its decorative detail to leave just basic information, allowing the iconic blue star to be doubled in size.