A COCKERMOUTH brewing company have teamed up with University of Cumbria to give students the opportunity to design a new range of beer labels.

Crooked River Brewing Co have teamed up with University of Cumbria to give design students an opportunity to showcase their talents by designing a range of beer labels for their range of special edition beers ahead of their release later this year.

Students would be expected to put their design skills to the test to produce beer labels, keg badges and marketing resources to help promote the beers before they go on sale across the county.

Crooked River Co Founder; Phil Scholey visited the Institute of Arts campus in Carlisle this week to present the assignment to the design student and talk about his own experience as a design student and how it has influenced the development of his business so far.

Phil said ‘ I wanted to keep the design brief, playful and unrestrictive so they could explore many concepts but also aim to have relevancy and connectivity to our brand.

"Craft beer is an emerging market in Cumbria compared to other parts of the country. The fundamental challenge the students must face is that consumers of craft beer commonly make purchasing decisions based on visual appeal over price or style, since many consumers are not so familiar with craft beer, Our beers have to stand out against other more established brands.

"Teaming up with the University has been a great opportunity for us to find a deeper connection with our community of artists and to ensure they get recognition for their work, the assignment will be followed by an exhibition at the University then an event hosted by us at a popular Carlisle bar where guests can sample one of the limited edition beers designed by the winning artist with other work published on our cans later in the year.

"We hope this encourages other local artists to step forward and work with us as we have planned for many other special edition beers to be released throughout the year to coincide with our schedule of events we hope to announce very soon."

Crooked River recently partnered with Tractor Shed Brewing following unprecedented local support from their crowdfund campaign to stimulate more diversity into the local beer market and keep Cockermouth on the map for its brewing heritage. Their first beers since they expanded their production are due to go on sale across Cumbria later this month with a focus on Cockermouth pubs, cafes and shops.

The team will be experimenting with various styles of beer on limited release throughout the year, the first being a Blackberry, Strawberry and Vanilla Sour which will go on sale early spring.