Each year, local brewery Surly Brewing Co. celebrates the release of their Russian Imperial Stout, “Darkness”, by commissioning a local artist to create new bottle label art.  The art is also used for clothing, posters, and advertising.  MNFX artist Michael Berglund has created a nightmarish zombie theme for 2011.  The bottles and materials become collectors’ items.  MNFX also created custom signage for the brewery, and wax stamps for use in decorating the bottles.

A nasty zombie enjoying his chalice of Darkness.

At Surly’s request, Michael also has created a custom painted self-portrait for the occasion.

A portrait in the style of 1960's monster movie magazines. Grr!

Watch for “Darkness” in stores–and on Ebay as it becomes a collectible.

Cheers!

A photo mockup of the finished bottle design.

The front of the boards had a front view of the CTS-V Coupe that was broken up among the panels and printed at various sizes.

When the panels are viewed at the correct spot, the images on the panels line up to form the complete image.

The banner boards had information highlighting various aspects of the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe on the back.

Each panel was approximately 30 x 72 x 3 inches. The public could freely walk around the panels to read the information.

Here a bench has been torn out. Hand carved brick using urethane foam. Everything in this image was made in 1/12th scale with no retouching. For scale reference, the mannequins in the window are Barbie dolls.

This library building has a missing hand rail. Everything but the lions was replicated in 1/12th scale.

For this broken fire hydrant image. All was constructed in 1/12th scale. The water was photographed separately and added.

The final touches to the weathered look was achieved with paint, various wash coats and some dry brush techniques. From the large ‘You’re’ to the little ‘Camp’ and everything in between, the artwork on the sign is all hand painted.

Final image as it appeared in print.

Model as it appeared in our shop. Size is approximately 14.5″ x 10″ x 8″.

The first was creating a thin stage that held up a 12′x10′ two sided banner wall. There is also an interactive touch screen kiosk where interested customers could spin the car with a swipe of the finger and change the cars color. Eight 4′x9′ printed boards were attached to the columns to expand the installations presence.

Stage with banner and touch screen kiosk.

What passerby’s see from the reverse side.

The other installation consisted of a red carpet, double banner platform and two angular floor signs.

Angular signs were fabricated from plywood and covered with vinyl.

A birds-eye view of potential buyers checking out the 556-hp engine.

Platform that holds up two banners with specs about the car.

The phone cord, receiver and arms were cut from plywood and treated for this HealthPartners billboard. The standoff brackets were fabricated from aluminum angle. The agency is Preston Kelly. Installation was done by Clear Channel.