L20 students at Hugh Baird College bring their creativity to life with bespoke beer collaboration
Students at Hugh Baird College have helped bring a new commercial product to life after taking part in a unique collaboration with Liverpool-based Neptune Brewery, with their artwork now featuring on a bespoke beer can set to be served at L20 Restaurant.
The project has given students the opportunity to experience the product development process from start to finish, combining creativity, industry insight and genuine employer engagement.
As part of the collaboration, students visited Neptune Brewery to gain an insight into the brewing industry and learn more about the processes involved in creating and bringing a product to market. They were then challenged to put their creativity to the test by designing artwork for the new beer can.
Three students were selected for their outstanding design: Ella Buckle, Kayden Manley and Theo Turley. Julie and Les from Neptune Brewery judged the competition before working with their designer, JP, to develop Ella's original artwork into the finished can design.
The new beer will now be available at L20 Restaurant, with plans also in place to feature it in the restaurant's Christmas hampers.
Ella Buckle, one of the winners of the design competition, said:
It feels amazing to have won the competition, and it's wonderful seeing our artwork come to life on the finished can; especially seeing my name on it!
John Paul McKeown, Head of Operations / Designer at Neptune Brewery, said:
It was great to see so many fantastic ideas and creative twists on the brief for the beer, including some really fun names and playful puns. As much as I’d have loved to put a little bit of everyone’s design on there, I managed to whittle it down to a couple of designs, combining a really cool octopus tentacle concept and eye-catching colour palette from Kayden, with the “Boss” name and city skyline from Theo and Ella. I also thought it was fitting to add some iconic Liverpool landmarks alongside Hugh Baird College, which some would say is the heart of Bootle!
Danielle Cox, L20 Commercial Manager at Hugh Baird College, said:
We wanted to collaborate with Neptune because we wanted our students to experience a genuine employer-led project from beginning to end. Rather than simply learning about product development in the classroom, they've had the opportunity to visit the brewery, work directly with people in the industry and contribute their own ideas through the can design competition.
For us, that's exactly what our Real Working Environment should be about – creating genuine links between education and industry and giving our students experiences that have a real outcome.
To now have our own L20 beer being served in the restaurant, with artwork created by our students on the finished can, is something we're incredibly proud of. We're hugely grateful to Julie, Les and the team at Neptune for giving our students such a fantastic opportunity.
The collaboration is another example of how Hugh Baird College's Real Working Environment provides students with opportunities to develop their skills through meaningful, hands-on projects, working alongside employers and industry professionals.
By taking part in projects with tangible outcomes, students can gain valuable experience, build confidence and see how their learning translates into the workplace.
For more information on Hospitality and Catering courses at Hugh Baird College, visit: https://www.hughbaird.ac.uk/subject-area/hospitality-catering-l20 .
