MURUGANDI
  • Blog
  • Portfolio
    • Commissions
    • Colour
    • Black and white
    • Paper marbling
    • Originals (for sale)
  • Game of Go
  • Shop
  • About
  • Contact

De Bier aan Huisman

4/7/2020

7 Comments

 
Picture
Art design for De Bier aan Huisman

I recently finished my latest art commission, a logo for De Bier aan Huisman, a one man company from Amsterdam in the beer sector. De Bier aan Huisman (www.debieraanhuisman.nl) is run by beer sommelier Daniël Huisman, who provides beer tasting events for groups and companies.
I have known Daniël for many years, we went to the same high school, and I always knew him as "the beer expert". Sometimes we organize board game evenings with a group of friends and on several occasions Daniël brought specialty beers for everyone to try. What I didn't know until I worked with him is that he studied 3 years to become a beer sommelier and even went on a trip to Austria to get his certified diploma. 

Personally, I love it when friends, family or acquaintances come to me for artwork. It means that my work is being picked up and appreciated. So it was a pleasant surprise to get a message from Daniël requesting a get together to discuss the making of a logo for his start-up!
A few days later we met at Gollem aan het Water, a lovely café at Entrepotdok 64 that specializes in, of course, specialty beers. Probably the only location of the five Gollem bars in Amsterdam that Daniël hasn't actually worked at. There we talked about Daniël's business concept of providing beer workshops and tastings on location, his ideas for the logo and the message he wants to convey on his website: funky and fun, yet sophisticated. He showed me a few examples of beer artwork that he likes, amongst which a drawing by artist Dan Blakeslee for brewery Alchemist Beer and the "Hoptopuss" by graphic designer Luke Keil for a beer can of brewery 81 Artisan. 
Picture
Art for brewery Alchemist Beer by Dan Blakeslee
Picture
Art for brewery 81 Artisan by Luke Keil
We also talked about the shape of hops, Amsterdam and Daniël's plan to buy a bakfiets (cargo bike) for his business. And about my own surreal and graphic drawing style, which he wanted to shine through in the logo. 
I was free to draw whatever I deemed appropriate, and even though the concept remained vague, a few ideas already started taking form during our talk: a bird man riding a cargo bike, the bike overloaded with beer bottles, perhaps hops growing out of those bottles and forming intricate shapes. I also pictured the hops plant forming the letters of De Bier aan Huisman, but I was not sure how viable this idea would be.
​We both let the talk sink in. As is often the case when you immerse yourself in a subject, you suddenly start noticing it all around you. I started paying attention to beer bottles in the supermarket and to pubs that I passed on the streets. One day I suddenly found a shampoo made from hops in the Polski sklep (Polish supermarket) in Amsterdam-Noord. Daniël warned me that my hair would smell like beer, but I had to buy and try it anyway. (I'm glad I did, it's a nice shampoo!)
There was no deadline for the illustration and so after a few weeks I finally started the drawing process. First I made a preliminary pencil sketch, then I used Photoshop to digitally transform it into black line art. The final stages were adding colour and fine tuning the details. Below some pictures of the process and details of the final version.
Picture
I had a lot of fun with this commission and I'm proud of the final result. Are you a beer freak in Amsterdam or do you know nothing about beer but are you curious to experience a beer tasting with a professional? Send Daniël an e-mail! I highly recommend it. 
7 Comments
A.L. van den Berg link
4/20/2020 05:28:55 pm

Nice. Thank you. Cheers

Reply
Murugandi
4/20/2020 05:45:55 pm

Cheers, Antonie!

Reply
Daniël Huisman, De Bier aan Huisman link
4/20/2020 06:09:17 pm

I can't thank Kim enough for the amazing work he did, and I am absolutely thrilled with the result. I have been a fan of his work ever since highschool, when we used to occasionally do some graffiti art together. Even back then it was clear he had such a unique and fun artstyle. It was also a real pleasure to work with a friend that brings his own ideas and creativity to the table, especially since my own ideas on what the image should be were still quite vague in the beginning. I understand how challenging it can be for an artist when a client doesn't provide a clear starting point or set of criteria. Luckily we were able to hash out some ideas over a beer and I was very happy with what we came up with and the ideas Kim came up with. I also wanted to give Kim the freedom to create something in his own distinct style, the style that I am such a fan of, and not limit that too much. The end result speaks for itself, and says a lot about Kim's amazing skills as an artist.

The bright colors, the surrealist vibe and attention to detail. It's like Murugandi plucked an image out of my mind I didn't even know was there and made it real. The mark of a true artist in my opinion. When I saw the finished work I literally jumped up in the air from excitement!

The logo has made me excited to start my beersommelier business adventure even more and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for me. Soon you will be able to check debieraanhuisman.nl to see what I'm up to and see what courses and tastings I am offering. Hope to see you all there!!

Cheers, proost, skøll, na zdrowie & kanpai my friends!

Reply
Murugandi
4/21/2020 06:48:32 pm

Thank you for your lovely words, Daniël. It was awesome to make this design for you and I cannot wait for the next beer tasting after the covid-19 madness blows over!

Reply
Luke Keil
11/10/2020 03:41:36 pm

Great read and love the design, well done! Also, Thanks for linking back to my bio, I'm always humbled to receive praise from others. Hit me up if you ever want to do some collab work on beer can designs in the future, would love to create more illustrations for them. Proost!

Reply
Murugandi link
11/10/2020 04:39:16 pm

Hi Luke, thanks a lot for taking the time to comment and for your nice words! Your work is awesome and it would be great if we could work together sometime. All the best from Amsterdam. Proost!

Reply
Wealthy Introductions Florida link
1/14/2023 05:05:30 pm

Grreat read thanks

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Welcome to my website! My name is Kim Ouweleen, my artist pseudonym is Murugandi. I am an illustrator, graphic designer, author and go teacher from Amsterdam.

    Want to receive updates on my newest art? Click below to subscribe to my newsletter.
    Newsletter
    You can view my previous newsletters here.

    Archives

    August 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019

    Categories

    All
    Disc Golf
    Game Of Go
    Looking Back
    New Art
    Newsletter
    On Commission
    Products

  • Blog
  • Portfolio
    • Commissions
    • Colour
    • Black and white
    • Paper marbling
    • Originals (for sale)
  • Game of Go
  • Shop
  • About
  • Contact