Northampton illustrator draws on his love of beer

A University of Northampton Illustration graduate is making a name for himself as the go-to man for breweries who want to make their beer stand out from the crowd.

Luke Knight is brewing a bright future for himself after combining his love of illustration and ale.

A collaboration with the Boot Town Brewery in Burton Latimer, near Kettering, has seen the 23-year-old design a series of bottle labels and can designs.

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Luke’s work with Boot Town follows a previous link up with Coventry’s Twisted Barrel brewery, which saw him design posters, bottle labels and a T-shirt, for a student project.

Beer expert Luke, whose day job, conveniently, is assistant manager of Beer Guerrilla craft ale shop in Wellingborough Road, Northampton said: “You can have the best craft beer in the world, but you have to get people’s attention, or nobody’s going to buy it.”

“You just need to look at all the label and can designs in the shop to see that artwork and branding is seen by the industry as equally important as the actual product.

“You could say that when you buy a can of craft beer, you’re also buying a work of art.”

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Luke is now looking to work with other small breweries, helping them to develop their brand.

He added: “Over the last 20 years there’s been something of a craft beer revolution, with more and more start-up breweries popping up, and brands like Brew Dog breaking into the mainstream.

“It’s sparked something of a revolution in design too, because each brewery places so much importance on how they market and present their product.

“It’s an industry which welcomes creative people with open arms – it’s an exciting time to be an illustrator.”

The beers are St George’s Ale at 4.3%, Globe Trotter 4.7% and Roobarb & Custard 5.1%.