Capturing the real Mexico 

The Little Creatures brewers are always hard at work developing their own spins on classic brews and their periodical Single Batch series are a testament to this constant evolution and experimentation. 

And it was this attitude that Little Creatures wanted to capture in their fresh take on the classic crowd pleaser… Mexican Cerveza. Inspired by coastal Mexico, this was a lager designed to be crisp, light, easy-drinking, and perhaps even enjoyed with a lime wedge and salted rim. It’s everything you could want in a cerveza, and more… the ultimate refreshment in a can.

However, what they didn’t want was for their version to be lost in the growing number of cervezas on shelf—a sea of palm trees, hammocks, and Día de Muertos imagery—instead, we needed to create a can design that would capture a different, more authentic, side of Mexico… with a bit of Little Creatures personality thrown in for good measure. 

Less palm trees, more card games 

We didn’t want to add to the proliferation of Instagram-able, stereotypical ideas of coastal Mexico, instead we wanted to celebrate the hidden complexity of Mexican design, culture… and beer. 

To build authenticity and meaning into the heart of the concept we drew inspiration from the Mexican card game, Lotería. Also known as Mexican Bingo, this is a game that’s deeply loved in Mexico, featuring cards that represent Mexican cultural symbols, such as el sol (the sun), la luna (the moon), el corazón (the heart), and el Sirena (the mermaid). The game’s iconic imagery and the shared experience it fosters across people of any generation has become a source of pride and celebration for Mexican people.

For the Little Creatures can design, we wanted to respect the original heritage and icons of the game, while merging it with contemporary Australian culture to reflect the best of both worlds… and the beer itself. Illustrated entirely in-house, we created a new ‘deck’ of Lotería cards—featuring many of the original icons, but also including new card symbols featuring Australian—and Little Creatures—icons, such as prawns, thongs, and beer hops.

To further ensure the design felt authentically Mexican, we created a custom typeface inspired by the hand-painted signs commonly seen in Mexican markets and food stalls, imbuing the label with an additional interest, culture, and artistry. Together the Lotería cards and typeface create a checkerboard effect across the can, looking almost like a game in action. 

To accompany the can design, a full set of Lotería cards were produced to bring the cerveza to life—so that the tradition of Lotería could continue thousands of miles from where it was born, introducing it to a new generation, and a new country of fans.