Garage Project brewed a trilogy of beers with Palliser Estate celebrating each year's grape harvest. I'm not too good at explaining how they were made but I can assure you it's more complex than pouring wine into beer.

Sauvin Nouveau was the first. I was asked to make an Art Nouveau label. Opulent and luxurious. After a lot of drafting I found the success of the design hinged on a good pose and a huge head of hair.

Château Aro was a riff on classic French wine estate labels. The difference being that instead of a majestic castle we have the petrol station.

Rosé de la Vallée rounded the trilogy off. Once again an enormous amount of hair was required to figure out the flow and tone of the image.

A genetically modified banana rampages through New New York City.

I painted this image almost non stop over two consecutive sick days.

Garage Project approached me with the task of creating the design and artwork for their 2017 Beervana stand, tap badges and beer labels.

The Cabinet of Curiosities is a throwback to the private museums of the 16th Century that showcased the most exotic and unusual collections of objects from distant lands. It was a marvellous mix of scientific specimens and objects of a more occult nature.

My task was to instil the artwork with a sense of wonder and mystery. Each beer label would have to be distinct while still connecting visually to the rest of the set. We found that by giving each piece a strong, focused point of light the images would appear other-worldly, magical and even slightly ominous. 

Ernest Rutherford. 

An extraordinary scientist obsessed with the wonders of the atom. Also the subject in Nic Sampsons' hilarious production - Ernest Rutherford: Everyone Can Science.

An oil portrait seemed fitting for the early 20th century icon, and provided a serious intensity that could be playfully flipped with the inclusion of a comically oversized atom - cradled by Sampson like a brandy snifter.

Everyone Can Science! was awarded Poster of the Year at the 2015 Hackman Theatre Awards

My first of many collaborations with Garage Project.

Pan Pacific is brewed with golden syrup, Golden Naked Oats and a combination of New Zealand Motueka and Australian Galaxy hops.

The label design drew upon the art of 'Wish you were here!' post cards, evoking the golden age of air travel.

The featured plane is a 1938 De Havilland Albatross. Only seven of these aircraft were ever built.

Brothers Beer isn't known for being particularly flashy or showy. It's a humble brand that is nicely summarised by the companies descriptor; 'good beer for good people.' The bottles and packaging were to be an extension of this philosophy - straightforward and honest.

The shape of the bottle had been decided upon already - the beautifully weird looking Steinie - and we felt it important to keep the silhouette of the bottle free from visible labels to accentuate the form of the glass.

The radiating ripple device around the Brothers logo provided a sort of fluid energy to the design while letting the Steinie do most of the work.

Accompanied only by the Brothers 'rainbow' of 8 colours, the frank directness of the posters and billboards really stood out amongst the visual clutter of Auckland city.

A Texas Brown Ale with a twist. Brewed with Warrior, Columbus and Simcoe, habaneros chilli and prickly pear. 

Garage Project had just moved on to canning their beers and I was asked to make a label that would seamlessly wrap all the way around the can.

The style reference given to me was "Grahame Sydney goes to Texas." Dramatic blue skies and weathered, sun baked buildings. The building in this case is of course the garage.

A grunty IPA that tips the hat to the tradition of awesome and beautiful things that can emerge from a garage.

Rendered in a retro deco style, the can depicts the original owner of the Garage Project site - Cybil Lupp, a Jaguar racer, mechanic, and all-round legend of Aro Valley.

There is nothing else quite like it - the unrelenting intensity of the Vendetta Films 24 Hour Movie Marathon. The movies eventually blur together and become torturous, yet I struggle to look away, I don't want to miss out on anything.

I was asked to create a poster for the 11th annual marathon that honoured its' venue - the wonderful Hollywood Cinema in Avondale, Auckland.

I wanted to capture the atmosphere of the marathon, and decided to create a cross sectional diorama of the event itself. I littered the poster with fun details that could be discovered over time. Zombies pour on to the street. The bean bag pit is devastated by giant rabbits stampeding from the screen. Meanwhile I snooze in my seat. See if you can find me. Also see if you can find Wally.

Wellington on a Plate 2016 spawned three new Garage Project beers, I was lucky enough to be asked to work on the can artwork for Lola, a cherry cola dunkel and collaboration with Karma Cola.

The art direction was for the label to be bright, bold, visually striking yet playful. Pop Art meets Mod Art. 

The Cherry / Lola / Cola connection had to be clear and it was decided early on having the central focus of the can be some juicy, cherry red lips was a good means of accomplishing this. The flowing swoosh of exposed metal against the black seemed vaguely Cola-like also.

Garage Project and Modern Times Beer teamed up on the 5th of November to create Whizz Bang, a Guy Fawkes themed "Hop Rocket IPA" brewed with Riwaka, American Mystery Hop #07270 and a little bit of gunpowder tea.

The brief was simply to make the can look like a multi shot firework. I slapped on fake instructions, a huge explosion and the boastful promise of 'supreme quality.' I then distressed the overall look of the can to make it appear old and volatile.

Vaccine, Pandemic, Reign of Terror, Crime Wave and Stranger Danger.

The products of my forth year Major project at Massey University. A series of faux horror film posters that examine, inform and reveal the truths behind several of the most prevalent irrational fears of modern society.

The Silver Screen Hysteria series earned me a 100% grade and went on to win a Gold Pin at the 2010 Best Awards.
 

Brewed with corn flakes, oats, chocolate wheat and a generous dose of milk sugar, Cereal Milk Stout is rich, smooth and redolent of the sweet remnants of the breakfast bowl.

For the label, I tried to mimic the aesthetic of a vintage cereal box. Not just the fun, bright, primary colors, but also the imperfections seen in the print process. Basically I tried to match the appearance of my old yellowed Ducktails comics I read as a child.

Garage Project brewed a trilogy of beers with Palliser Estate celebrating each year's grape harvest. I'm not too good at explaining how they were made but I can assure you it's more complex than pouring wine into beer.

Sauvin Nouveau was the first. I was asked to make an Art Nouveau label. Opulent and luxurious. After a lot of drafting I found the success of the design hinged on a good pose and a huge head of hair.

Château Aro was a riff on classic French wine estate labels. The difference being that instead of a majestic castle we have the petrol station.

Rosé de la Vallée rounded the trilogy off. Once again an enormous amount of hair was required to figure out the flow and tone of the image.

Smoke & Mirrors is a bock beer of clean, rich malt complexity with caramel notes, just a touch of beech wood smoke and a little slight of hand.

I couldn't resist some sort of optical illusion for this label.

I was asked to create the cover for the Summer edition of AA Directions magazine. But not just any Summer - the ultimate Kiwi Summer. The Good Old Kiwi Holiday. 

A family relaxing under a blooming Pohutakawa.

The visual style is reminiscent of travel ads from the early 20th century.

Just a friendly clown.

Oceanic Flight 815. Made several seasons into Lost. Season 3 finale was the peak in my opinion.

A Boy Wonder is a fantastical, heart-warming and rambunctious comedy adventure about a friendship between two scouts and their heroic journey to save everything they have sworn to protect.

This is a one man show written and performed by Ryan Richards - a peculiar fellow with an unnatural energy and enthusiasm. I wanted the theatrical poster to scream 'scouting!', while also capturing the joyous infectious intensity of the play.

Poster of the Year - 2014 Hackman Theatre Awards.

Louisiana Voodoo Queen is a powerful dark brew. Inspired by the tradition of New Orleans coffee and the Voodoo ‘cure-all’. Also a collaboration with Flight Coffee.

At 9.5%, I really wanted this label to give you the feeling you were about to drink a strange potion.

Bright Side was brewed for the launch of the Garage Project taproom on Aro St, Wellington.

I was asked to create a design that played off the artwork of one of the brewery's first beers - Aro Noir, a pitch black stout for the dark side of Aro Valley. The new taproom, however, was fortunately located on the sun drenched side of the road, hence the name Bright Side.

I set about designing a bizarro version of Noir, the opposite in both composition and treatment. Replacing the black and white, moody angles with vivid swirling patterns and colours not dissimilar to the paintings of Gustav Klimt.

Theatrical poster for The Irrefutable Truth About Pet Food by Barnaby Fredric.

Pet food is serious business.

Poster of the Year - 2010 Hackman Theatre Awards.

The Session Beer Challenge, now in its' third year running is the Auckland beer event of the summer.

25 of New Zealand's best breweries brew 23 brand new beers especially for the event, designed with a lower alcohol volume to be leisurely sipped away on this late-summer Sunday.

Although the breweries were competing to take out the grand prize of Top Beer, I was asked to understate this aspect of the event, favouring instead the inviting summer vibes, the fun atmosphere, and the lower alcohol content of the brews.

I opted for the image of a dew dappled pint split-screened across the many hours of the day, signalling the event as an easy going, all day affair.

Garage Project brewed a trilogy of beers with Palliser Estate celebrating each year's grape harvest. I'm not too good at explaining how they were made but I can assure you it's more complex than pouring wine into beer.

Sauvin Nouveau was the first. I was asked to make an Art Nouveau label. Opulent and luxurious. After a lot of drafting I found the success of the design hinged on a good pose and a huge head of hair.

Château Aro was a riff on classic French wine estate labels. The difference being that instead of a majestic castle we have the petrol station.

Rosé de la Vallée rounded the trilogy off. Once again an enormous amount of hair was required to figure out the flow and tone of the image.

I saw this creepy fella on the way to work when I lived in Nottingham. He always had a red face and a wild look in his eyes. I saw the police bust in his door once.