Patrons Projects

“I didn’t think much of it at the time, but we had been talking about different kinds of labelling innovation, and he mentioned that pharmaceutical companies were starting to use these peel and reveal labels,” Russ continues. “It felt fairly serendipitous that around the same time, Tom [Joy] and I were chatting – and now that I think about it, this was peak craft beer – about how we could create a photography exhibition with single-origin coffee through the medium of craft beer. Using the can as canvas started to feel like the obvious thing to do.”

As Northern Monk’s head of design and curator of all Patrons Projects cans, Jon Simmons here jumps in, reflecting on how the can-as-canvas approach that Northern Monk popularised in the UK (dare I say, pioneered?) has changed over the years. “The peel and reveal labels are a great concept, but the question is, what do we do with that? What are we revealing? That can be totally different between artists. Maybe we use a QR code that could link to video content that shows the work in progress. It could be a really interesting story about beer. Every Patron is different, and what constitutes engaging content changes so rapidly, so it's up to us to make that ‘reveal’ bit interesting and engaging, and totally bespoke to the product.”

Jon’s relationship with Northern Monk began 10 years ago with a couple of freelance gigs, which spiralled into full-time work. He says that before connecting with Northern Monk, he’d had more experience working as an illustrator, but increasingly found flow in graphic design. He sees all details – no matter how minute – as important, and an opportunity for dynamic storytelling.

Jon is connected to James Butler, in part, by the ink on his arm. Over ten years ago, James gave Russ his first ever tattoo (Russ was also Jon’s first ever commercial client) and since then, has inked half the Northern Monk team — Jon included. James knew he wanted to be a tattoo artist from the age of about 16, but it took almost a decade for him to find footing in the industry, which was then not as open and welcoming as it is today. Nonetheless, he thinks of those early years as time he spent honing his style, eventually landing on a specialism in black dot and linework. This can be seen on his Patron series cans, as well as Northern Monk’s newly re-branded core range cans, for which James drew the striking landscapes. 

Much like James, Russ can’t remember a time in his adult life when he didn’t call Drew Millward a friend. The illustrator started life as a booking agent, putting on gigs in Leeds that he needed posters for. “In that sense, I came from quite a DIY background,” says Drew. “In the ‘90s, you’d walk into Jumbo Records and find a wall of Word document print-outs basically just saying ‘this band is playing here. This is the information, do with it what you will.’ I thought, ‘well, if I draw a poster it might be more interesting.’”

Drew’s illustrations are busy and bold, yet warm in tone. Co-founder and head brewer Brian Dickson describes his style as “scream[ing] of tropical fruit,” which lends some insight into the brewery team’s creative process. I ask which comes first, the beer, or the Patron, and Brian says “it's gone multiple ways”. 

“Liquid wise, Patrons Projects beers have always been an opportunity to have some fun, experiment with new styles and flavours, or just amp everything up as high as we can. With the likes of Tom Newell, his designs always have some serious heavy metal vibes about them, and we felt like that kind of aesthetic called for dark beers. He’s a big Imperial stout fan anyway, so his series was kind of a no brainer. TankPetrol is a massive IPA fan and was messaging us about what kind of hops we should use, and asking where we got them from. So he was super involved in the beer side of things too.”

With so many voices and perspectives around one table it's easy to see, not just that it takes a village to power the Patrons Projects, but that the broader beer industry’s village is so much wider than meets the eye. On one hand, Jon, Tom, Drew and James are all present because they were commissioned and championed by Northern Monk, but on the other, the brewery exists as it does because these creatives have thrown their weight and talent behind it. They’re patrons to each other in different ways, but in doing so, are building towards something much bigger than the sum of its parts. 

Drew points out that for a long time Leeds, Northern Monk’s hometown, didn’t have a museum, and its art gallery was shut for many years. “[The city] exists outside of that weird funding bubble that a lot of bigger cities have, and so it doesn't have the same big culture scene. People in Leeds have kind of been left to do their own shit, but for all of that, they do go and do their own shit and that’s created really fertile soil for counter-cultural movements. It's why the music is so good, it's why the beer is so good, it's why the tattooing is so good”. 

To this, Jon adds that when he was growing up, it was pretty common practice to rent the back room of a pub and put on a gig. “Everyone just did it. All it took was a couple of older bands to lead the way, show you that it could be done and that you could do it too. It didn’t matter that it was DIY, all you needed was for people to do stuff.” 

It occurs to me that this might be what the Patrons Projects is really about; showing people that they can do it too, and indeed, that the North can do it too. Sure, the idea for the Patrons Projects was born out of Russ’ love of branding, but just below the surface of that branding, is a deeper love of people, passion, and of course, the North.