The Hertog Jan brewers show the world their Love for Beer with the publication of hand-illustrated posters, designed by the duo Zender & Chaos in collaboration with The Valley.

Starting this week, every customer receives a poster as a special gift when purchasing a crate of Hertog Jan Pilsener. Depending on which one you got, the poster can depict two different things: one is entirely devoted to the brewing process, illustrating the path from ingredient to beer. The second poster shows an overview of all kinds of beer, from fermented to stouts and abbey beers.

Beer education is an important part of Hertog Jan's communication. Sjors van Drie, Senior Brand Manager at Hertog Jan, says: "The popularity of beer has grown enormously in recent years. Knowledge about beer, however, lags a bit behind. We would like to fix that." Last year the brewery released a number of documentaries about beer types and styles. This year, it’s the posters’ turn to educate the masses. Since their first use many centuries ago, posters have often had a distinct educational function. This we still see in society today, for example with the well-known posters about fish or vegetables. Such posters, however, are not only for learning, but also represent a brand’s craftmanship. They possess meticulous attention to detail, beautiful illustrations and a well-thought-out design made by people who wanted to showcase their love for the product(s). The poster is therefore a fitting device for the Hertog Jan brewers to express their own Love for Beer and to solidify their position in the field of beer crafting.

For this project, designers Sander Pappot and Christiaan Dros were mainly inspired by styles from the 60s and 70s. For Hertog Jan, they worked with various old techniques, namely a combination of hand-painted oil and pencil illustrations. The remarkable details and on average more than 20 illustrations per poster ensured high-quality art prints. The look and feel match the character of Hertog Jan and accurately portray the love that the brewers hold for their cherished product.

Over the years, Hertog Jan has grown into the most premium lager brand in the Netherlands through the theme "For the Love of Beer". Building on this, Hertog Jan also wants to strengthen its position in the common supermarket. Posters offer that possibility at both brand and sales levels. The enthusiasm among retailers is equally as big as that of Hertog Jan. From this week on, the posters will be displayed at Albert Heijn and Makro, and afterwards also at Jumbo, Dirk, Plus, Sligro and Dekamarkt. The posters come for free with any crate of Pilsener by Hertog Jan. They are also available (including a matching wall-hanging system) on hertogjan.nl.