David Carson & 10,5

It was 1993; the Internet was just getting started, and Photoshop v. 2.5 was available on floppy disks. A 17-inch color monitor for a Mac cost about $8,000, and the average desktop hard drive had a capacity of 80 MB.

Grunge reigned supreme in music, as it did in design and typography. The bible and inspiration for all graphic designers who wanted to be “in” was the American monthly magazine RayGun, which had been published since 1991, and whose art director was David Carson – an absolute superstar and guru of graphic design at the time. He completely revolutionized typography by breaking all of its rules and taking lettering to a whole new level.

Exactly at that time, every new issue of RayGun, bought at the international press kiosk at Hamburg’s main train station, was feverishly passed from hand to hand in the creative department of the advertising agency JUST in Hamburg, where I worked as an art director. To be honest, we were all very jealous that these guys in California had the opportunity to do such fantastic things, while we were condemned to our conservative agency routine.

“The label should be avant-garde and different from anything else on the market. The name does not exist – invent one. No other restrictions. The whole thing has to be ready by tomorrow.”

One day, I received a new order. It came from a client of the agency – the Polish Company LECH Wielkopolska Breweries – later taken over by Kompania Piwowarska.

The brewery had a large amount of beer that was ordered and not picked up by some of their contractors from the East. They needed to get this beer on the market as soon as possible, and they needed a new brand ASAP, as this type of beer could not be sold under any of the brands they already had in their portfolio.

The only person in the agency who had any “experience” with packaging was me – I once made a pizza box for a college friend, and I’m Polish. So this job landed on my desk. On the same desk where the latest issue of RayGun was sitting next to a Macintosh II with a 13-inch black-and-white monitor.

The briefing was limited to one sentence: a standard die-cut and a 0.5l bottle of Lech Pils. The label should be avant-garde and different from anything else on the market. There was no name – invent one. No other restrictions. The whole thing had to be done by tomorrow.

“”In the blink of an eye, I made my decision: I’m going to do a Carson.”

 

Since I was given complete freedom, I made my decision at once: I would make a Carson. The name 10.5 represents the amount of extract used in the beer’s recipe. Welcome to the club – it was meant to suggest elitism. The Trixi font – with which I spelled 10.5 in the blurb – is the quintessential grunge, and the two-part label is inspired by the RayGun cover. It’s all in black and gold for quality. Done. The whole creative process took about 2 hours.

The next morning, I presented the layout to my boss. The man mumbled: hmm – not bad, but it won’t go through. As it turned out, he decided to show it to the client. The rest is history and the most successful launch of a new beer brand in Poland. Ever.

”Inspired by Carson’s work and grunge, the beer packaging, 30 years after its debut, is still present in its original form.”

 

 

 

However, what makes this story really interesting is the fact that the beer packaging, inspired by Carson’s work and grunge, 30 years after its debut, is still on the market in its original form – to be bought at any Polish convenience store, for example. Only in the claim has the word “welcome” been changed to “back.”

 It is safe to say that this is the only packaging on the Polish market, which has survived 30 years practically unchanged, and which still remains relevant and sells well – if it were otherwise, it would have disappeared from shelves forever.

 

 

 

Surely it is also the only “up-to-date” packaging in the world, in which the fascination with Carson’s typography, Raygun’s aesthetics, and the trends of the early 90s have withstood the test of time, is still alive, and with each sold can of 10.5, this life after life is extended.

Robert Neumann owner of Delikatessen Brand & Design Agency and since 2021 D GROUP with offices in Hamburg and Warsaw. Born in 1964, a graduate of Hamburg’s Hochschule für Bildende Künste, winner of many international creative awards.

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