Local artist’s designs decorate local beer

Date: 6/22/2017

EAST LONGMEADOW – Dean McKeever says he’s always been an “art nerd.”

Long before the Wilbraham native and current East Longmeadow resident graduated from UMass Dartmouth with a degree in illustration, he was passionate about the pursuit of artistic endeavors, especially non-traditional ones.

“I always wanted to do two things – skateboard decks and beer labels,” he explained.

McKeever has achieved his dream, now designing the labels for Tree House Brewing Co., considered by many beer fans and pundits alike to be one of the best breweries in the country, and perhaps the world.

McKeever’s journey after college started when he connected with Theory Skate Shop, designing illustrations for skateboards, which helped bolster his collection of works.

“I had a really great relationship with Theory and with that work, I got a little more confidence and more work for my portfolio,” he said.

With that extra confidence, McKeever reached out to Tree House with email after email until one day he received a response stating their interest in having him submit T-shirt designs. He submitted three designs and the brewery bought all three, including one design that would become the artwork for the label for the company’s 18th installment of its popular Curiosity line of beers.

From there, interest and enthusiasm surrounding in McKeever’s work exploded.

“With those first designs, it was sort of like dipping my toes in. The said, ‘Let’s see how this goes and see how the customers respond,’ because it was a completely different look than anything they had,” he said. “Everyone loved it and I started doing another one and another one and now I’m something like 30 labels in. It’s crazy.”

Citing artistic influences ranging from Van Gogh to Bob Ross, McKeever said he is particularly fond of natural elements and vintage themes.

“As an overall time period, I’m a big fan of the 50s and 60s and just the overall vibe of those times,” he said.

He also said he’s very particular when it comes to color usage.

“I like my work to be very colorful, but selectively colorful,” he said. “If the beer is something really hoppy and fruity, I’ll try to channel that. I’m not going to use dull colors on something like that, but for a porter or a stout, I might incorporate more browns and blacks and more heavy artwork,” he explained.

Incorporated into several of McKeever’s works is a small cabin that he said has naturally become a trademark for him.

“I don’t know how it happened, but it’s kind of become a recurring character,” he said. “A lot of popular artists have a character that you can spot throughout their work. I don’t know why, but I just love drawing that thing. Sometimes I’ll change the shape or make it taller or whatever, but it’s just kind of my little dude.”

Collaboration with Nate Lanier, head brewer and creative director for Tree House, is essential to the creation of the labels. Lanier, who previously designed Tree House’s labels, won’t necessarily provide a description of the beer, but rather will give McKeever a basic concept and allow him to run with it.

“A lot of times he’ll do something like send me a screen shot of a Google search with images that kind of portray what he’s looking for,” McKeever said. “Like the [Curiosity Thirty Six], I did an old-school Chevy with a teardrop trailer. He had sent me a clipart of a 2-D car and trailer and I changed it into what was on the label. He’ll give me the framework and I’ll work from that.”

In addition to Tree House, McKeever is designing lables for Haint Blue Brewery in Mobile, AL, Tioga Sequoia Craft Brewery in Fresco, CA, and Vitamin Sea Brewing, a local homebrewing operation.

“They make beer that is close to on part with anything you’ll get here, and it’s out of their basement,” McKeever said of Vitamin Sea. “It’s kind of like how Tree House started.”

For more information on McKeever and his work, visit www.keeverart.com.