Hart Print and Les bières Béluga scored GOLD at the 2024 MUSE Design Awards in the Packaging Design - Sustainable category. This international design competition recognizes excellent and original design work from across the globe, so we are mega honored. Just look at that graceful statuette: isn’t she fire?!🔥

Our winning project is a limited-edition beer series that combines Quebec microbreweries and talented local artists with our 100% recyclable packaging to raise funds and awareness for the preservation of beluga whales. Wait, what IS this magical project?

Our magical project
Since 2014, Les bières Béluga has actively raised funds for the research and conservation of beluga whales in Quebec’s St. Lawrence River. For every beer sold, $0.11 goes towards the company’s goal of adopting Al, a 25-year-old male beluga in the region. 

With the brewery, we conceived a new and exciting collaboration with the brewery, The brewery reached out to us to collaborate on a limited-edition project, Art Series. The goal was to promote quality artisanal beer, sustainable practices and local art featuring - what else? - beluga whales.

“Our hARTlab team loves collaborating with artists and beverage producers for great causes,” says Gabs, Hart Print’s Head of Creative. “Art makes a big impact on what you put out in the market. hARTlab gives artists the chance to express themselves on a brand-new medium - cans! We have a passion for promoting artists and spreading the word about how awesome their work is.”

We teamed up a dozen Quebec-based artists with Les bières Béluga and collaborator breweries to carry out the project. Hart Print was there to bring each can to life, thanks to our cutting-edge digital technology that seamlessly and accurately prints on cans, all the way up to the neck. The result? Each blank can became a canvas for our artists to reinvent the image of belugas in their vision - all different, all cool. The products looked stunning on store shelves across the province. Best of all, thanks to Hart Print’s no-stickers, no-sleeves process, the packaging was infinitely recyclable, which doubled down on Bières Béluga’s mission to do good for the whales and the environment.

Artist Joel Malkin, who designed the Triple IPA can, noted: “I didn’t know much about belugas, but I learned that they’re silly, intelligent, sociable, curious and playful. To me, it was important that my artwork represent their personality, especially since this is meant to raise funds for them. I hope this will inspire folks to learn about the beluga and to do their part to help them.”

Hart Print is so proud of this project, which was carried out in the name of the arts, local brewers and the environment. A huge thank-you to the following hARTlab artists for carrying out this collaborative project with so much enthusiasm that it attracted even more artists to the project. Go give them a follow on Instagram! 

@gabadingdom, @spilledmalk, @waxheadart, @sandmandesign, @santerre_art, @crayonpapier, @mf.visualarts, @houseofpinkart, @romaincavelier, @jutattooinkarts, @jasonwasserman, @etienne_bonneville

Art is everywhere at Hart Print - it’s even in our name. Whether it’s on our cans, on our merch or on our walls, we take pride in celebrating a diverse representation of styles, voices and cultures in our artwork, and we love collaborating with artists and beverage producers for great causes. Want to join our artist network? Let’s talk!