Nachi Eltit On Art And Designing Firestone Walker Beer Labels

A brewery’s artwork is a large part of its identity and for many a defining factor behind many of the craft beer brands we love.

Just as a movie poster or a band’s artwork can be an essential introduction, a beer’s label sets the stage and the tone for what you’re drinking. Firestone Walker Brewing understands this better than most, as does Nachi Eltit, the artist responsible for many of the Propagator’s special limited releases including its newest.

Nachi’s an interesting person, the offspring of a Palestinian father and Spanish mother, she was born in Chile before migrating to Central California in 1999.

American Craft Beer recently sat down with Nachi (yes over beer) to discuss the art of the beer label and the imagery behind the work she’s done with The Propagator, Firestone Walker’s hot-rod brewhouse in Venice, California.

ACB: As the artist behind Nachi Eltit Design and Illustration, we’re pretty sure you’ve explored all kinds of artistic directions. But did you ever expect you’d be doing imaging for one of the most successful craft breweries in the world?

Never in a million years! I never thought I’d be making beer labels at all, let alone for such a classic California brewery.

ACB: So how’d you end up designing beer label art for Firestone Walker’s innovation brewery The Propagator?

A friend who works on the Firestone team reached out about designing a Grateful Dead inspired label for Talley Cat Sunflower IPA. When they were brainstorming about art direction, she immediately thought of my work and pitched it to the team. Initially it was a one-time project but they liked the label so much that they decided to keep hiring me for more.

ACB: What goes into each beer’s artistic look? How do you approach the process?

The Propagator’s look is heavily influenced by vintage psychedelic concert posters from the 60’s and 70’s, and the brand itself is a reflection of the rich art, music, surfing and skating culture of Venice Beach. Our main focus is to weave together the laid back coastal California way of life with groovy vintage-inspired artwork.

ACB: To what degree does the beer’s name or style affect where you go with its imaging? Do you collaborate with Firestone Walker at all on the artwork or just wing it?

Each label has some sort of connection to the beer name and style. We try to keep it subtle and are intentional about sprinkling little details throughout that relate to the theme – that’s one of my favorite things about designing labels for the Propagator.

As far as collaboration goes, it’s definitely a team effort. The team will come to me with a brief of the beer and a loose idea of what they’re envisioning for the label, and then they let me run with it.

I feel really grateful for the creative liberty I’m given and for the team dynamic we have. They are always open to hearing my ideas and vice versa.

ACB: We’re particularly fond of the beer art you created for Gen-6, the Double IPA that the Propagator did with El Segundo. Tell us about that one.

That was such a special one and so fun to work on. It was inspired by tarot, fortune-telling and mysticism culture from the early days. We wanted to capture some of Venice Beach’s history since Gen-6 is an anniversary beer. It was made in celebration of the 6th anniversary of the Venice Beach taproom.

ACB: We were surprised to learn about your South American heritage. Your artwork strikes us as uber-Californian. To what degree do you think your background informs the art you’re creating today?

The funny thing is that the place I was born and raised, Viña Del Mar, Chile, is eerily similar to California’s central coast which is where my family moved when I was 9. Similar climate, similar culture, just on the opposite hemisphere. There are differences of course but it’s very reminiscent of California in terms of the relaxed lifestyle. So I guess you could say I’ve always been a West Coaster at heart.

A year ago I moved to Burlington, Vermont and although I’m far from home, the coast I was raised on and its influence on me is an innate characteristic of the way I create. I think I’ll always carry that in my work no matter where I go.

ACB: You recently designed the beer art the Propagator’s new “Sea Haze” collaboration with Humble Sea Brewing. What can you tell us about that project?

That project was really close to my heart because I grew up only a 45 minute drive from Santa Cruz where Humble Sea Brewing is based. I’ve spent a ton of time there and have so many memories of boardwalk days, beach hangs, concerts and sunsets in Santa Cruz so it was really special to illustrate a part of it on the label.

I have to admit, it made me a little homesick. Some friends and I went to Humble Sea last time I was in California and had some really yummy beers. They’re doing an amazing job and I’m a huge fan of their label art.

ACB: Were you a beer person before you started working with Firestone Walker and if not are you now?

I’m by no means an expert but yes! I was introduced to the craft beer world in college by friends who were really into it. At first, I was definitely more interested in the artwork than the beer itself but it grew on me and became my drink of choice.

I got really inspired by all the awesome artwork and would go walk up and down the aisles at BevMo just to look at all the labels. I’d never seen anything like it before. In one of my classes, we were assigned to design our own beer label and it was so much fun. I remember thinking that I’d love to design a beer label someday.

I also took a class that dedicated the entire semester to designing a magazine and mine was focused on craft beer. I based it on the principle that it was meant not just for men, but also for women and everyone in between (21+, of course). Thinking about that now is mind blowing because the beer industry was dominated by men for so long and now there are so many women in the industry – and I’m one of them. It’s surreal. You never know where life will take you.

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