Beer-label illustrator's work gets trashed daily

FENTON, Mo. - Some of Michael Halbert's best artwork winds up in the recycle bin.

Halbert has made a career out of illustrating beer labels, and his work currently appears on beers and packaging from brewers such as Anheuser-Busch InBev, MillerCoors and Samuel Adams, so there's a good chance that if you'd had a bottle of beer or bought a six-pack in recent years, you've owned a piece of Halbert's art.

"A couple of times at bars, I would go up to people who were drinking a particular bottle and say, 'Hey, I made that illustration,' " Halbert, 57, said recently from his home studio. "I don't do that anymore."

Halbert specializes in scratchboard - a technique where the artist etches black-and-white images into a clay board, giving an old-time, engraved-wood appearance. Breweries' design firms hire him to draw wheat strands or hop vines or malted grains for labels, packaging and advertisements.

Several beers from Anheuser-Busch's Michelob Brewing Co. contain Halbert's label art, including its newest seasonal beer - Michelob Ginger Wheat - which debuted last month. Halbert created the knuckle of ginger in the label's foreground and the wheat in its background.

"The goal is to develop a label and packaging with an appealing look that clearly communicates the beer's attributes," said Nate Scudieri, Michelob's brand manager. "Beer enthusiasts want to know a lot about the beers they enjoy, which is why we put details about the beer's style and ingredients on the actual label."

Beer labels have a "huge effect" on consumers because they influence purchasing decisions from store shelves to bar menus, Washington University marketing professor Joseph Goodman said.

"At a grocery store, we look to labels for information about what's in the product, but at a bar, a beer label doubles as an advertisement, which makes it incredibly important," Goodman said. "We're more likely to buy what other people are buying, so if you see someone else drinking a certain beer, that's going to influence you."

Even breweries without the marketing budgets of Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors recognize the importance of having labels that stand out, especially to potential first-time buyers

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