Designing the collaboration beer label for KC HiLiTES x Historic Brewing Company meant balancing striking creative design with strict industry compliance. A major part of the project involved diving deep into Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) federal labeling requirements, ensuring mandatory health warnings, net contents, brand declarations, and ABV placement met exacting legal standards. Navigating these federal guardrails while keeping the visual storytelling front and center was an incredibly valuable lesson in designing under rigid compliance constraints.
From a technical standpoint, this project tested the absolute boundaries of Adobe Illustrator. The label demanded high-density vector artwork, intricate detail work, and precise print pre-press setup across non-standard dielines. Pushing Illustrator into territory I didn’t think it could reach, managing complex vector layering, tight typography wrap, and print-ready spot finishes, made the execution deeply technical. Seeing the final artwork come together so crisp, compliant, and bold remains one of the proudest highlights of my design work.