Tanker

Kontuur Leo Burnett · Beer Label Series · 2022

A series of four illustrated beer labels for Tanker Brewery, one of Estonia's most distinctive craft producers. I led the project as art director and illustrator under a supervising creative director at Kontuur Leo Burnett — developing the visual character of each can by combining bold typography with custom illustration that reflects the personality and story of the beer inside. Two of the four labels were nominated as finalists at Kuldmuna 2022 in the Package Design: alcoholic drinks category.

The series

The structural anchor is the "TANKER" wordmark — vertical, blockish, identical on every can — while the visual treatment around it shifts dramatically with the beer inside. The four labels in this set span three different approaches: bespoke hand-drawn illustration, recolored existing artwork, and photographic composition. The challenge was tonal range: holding the same brand voice while switching between humour, gravitas, energy, and craft.

For Normal Beer and Rye Baltica — the two Kuldmuna 2022 finalists — I drew the illustrations from scratch, building each scene around the beer's name, flavour, and the cultural references in the brewery's brief. Oh My Wai-iti! is part of Tanker's "Oh My" series; here the existing illustration was recolored and retoned to fit the new flavour. Masinaõli, a long-running collaboration with Estonian metal band Herald (named after the band's album), leans on photographic composition to nod toward the industrial machinery the beer takes its name from.

Normal Beer

A keller pils — clean, light, easy-drinking. The illustration places Tanker's mascot bears in a stylized Estonian forest at sunset: drinking, lounging, pitching tents. Loose linework and high-contrast blues and yellows keep the scene playful while staying readable on the shelf.

Finalist · Kuldmuna 2022

Rye Baltica

A Baltic porter brewed with rye. The illustration centres on a steam train rolling through farmland — old-world industrial weight rendered with warm, illustrative texture. Browns, dusty reds, and muted blues echo the beer's malt-forward, deeply roasted profile.

Finalist · Kuldmuna 2022

Masinaõli

A black IPA brewed in a long-running collaboration with Estonian heavy metal band Herald, named after their album Masin (Machine). The label leans on photographic composition rather than illustration — machinery, gears, and industrial textures nodding toward both the band's sound and the beer's punishing 7.5% ABV.

Oh My Wai-iti!

A triple-dry-hopped IPA, part of Tanker's Oh My series. The label takes an existing illustration referencing Munch's Scream and recolours it in warm reds, oranges, and yellows — retuning the artwork to communicate the beer's punchy, hop-forward character.