Shiner Beer and Ball Corporation have won the fourth annual Colored by INX Can Design Contest. Their design entry for Shiner Texhex Bruja’s Brew IPA was determined to be the best of the five finalists in voting conducted by an independent panel of judges and the public through INX International’s Facebook and LinkedIn social media pages.
The other finalists included Ballast Point Brewery, Hazy Sculpin India Pale Ale submitted by Ball Corporation; Lagunitas Brewing Company, Island Beats Tropical IPA submitted by Lagunitas; Miller Brewery, Miller Lite Grill submitted by Ball Corporation; and Ruby’s Revenge Imperial Grapefruit IPA from Great Lakes Brewing Company, the Cleveland-based craft brewer that had won the contest the two previous years.
This year’s entries required designers to use two colors from the INX Metal Color Catalog when they produced a commercial can design prior to January 1, 2023. Levi Boss, Graphics Center of Excellence Director at Ball Corporation, indicated the color catalog was essential to the success of their winning design.
“The colors of the design and the complex graphics, combined with Ball Corporation’s EYERIS color separation technology, presented an outstanding design with a standout visual impact,” said Boss, who was involved in the winning entry. The design team also included Nick Weiland, Brand Director at Shiner Beer, and a trio of people connected to the Bakery Agency in Austin, Texas, Shiner’s creative shop: Design Lead, Kaleb Sindac; Associate Creative Director, Kerrie Heckel; and independent Illustrator and Art Director, Evaristo Angurria of Angurria Design Co.
“Capturing the luminescence of the metallic substrate, the complement of the inks next to each other in swatch form, then rendered onto the production can showcased INX’s unparalleled understanding of printing on aluminum through the dry offset process,” continued Boss. “This particular design series is so striking because of the depth of opacity from the dark contouring colors, and it fairly radiates in the lighter image areas.”
Texhex Bruja’s Brew IPA is produced at the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, a small community in southeast Texas with a population of just over 2,000 residents. Founded by Kosmos Spoetzl in 1909, they produce more than six million cases of beer annually. Texhex Bruja’s Brew IPA was introduced in early 2022 and is now available nationwide in 6- and 12-pack cans.
Renee Schouten, Vice President of Marketing for INX who manages the competition, said reinstating the public voice in the voting process after a one year hiatus was the right decision.
“We were very pleased with how many votes were received through Facebook and LinkedIn,” remarked Schouten, who said representatives from Spoetzl Brewery, Ball Corporation and the Bakery Agency will soon receive their custom engraved Colored by INX trophy. “I also want to thank our judges, Scott Drucker, Alex Fordham, Sarah Jacks, Janet Johanson and Marshall Thompson. We plan to rotate our panel of experts again next year and I want to acknowledge this group. They did an exceptional job reviewing all of the entries.”
