Why It Began
Sometimes inspiration has a very unusual sense of humour.
Imagine spending several months preparing an original design project. You refine proportions, materials, light and visualisations. Finally, you present it to the world and watch the first reactions with bated breath.
And then a Tyrannosaurus arrives.
Literally.
On the same design platform, a beer can appears in the jaws of an enormous prehistoric predator. The audience is delighted.
And on your way back from the swimming pool, you watch the dinosaur collect more likes.
What now?
You can get angry.
Or you can start thinking.
Czechia. Hockey. Ice. A puck. Black. The bold lines of the rink.
Suddenly, something completely different begins to take shape.
Not another picture with a dinosaur.
But a design story of its own.
SCORE 0:0.
From Emotion to Concept
Czechia is a hockey country.
Hockey is part of our sporting culture, our shared emotions, and those moments when everyday life briefly stops and our attention turns to one thing.
The game.
I wanted to create packaging that captures this atmosphere without using the familiar language of sports advertising.
No players in dramatic poses.
No flames, explosions or aggressive graphics.
I was interested in the essence of hockey itself.
The ice rink.
The movement of the puck.
The precision of a hockey stick.
The tension just before the game begins.
And the moment when everything is still open.
0:0.
Two digits that stand for balance, anticipation and the endless possibilities of how the game might unfold.
They also refer to the non-alcoholic nature of the proposed drink.
That is how the name SCORE 0:0 came about.
One Stick. An Infinite Game.
The design is built around a simple cylindrical can.
I did not want to change its shape. It seemed more interesting to change the way we experience its surface.
I chose a deep matte black.
The colour of a hockey puck, part of the sporting equipment, and the focused quiet before a game begins.
One bold motif appears on this surface.
A hockey stick.
Not an illustration added to a logo, but the main structural element of the visual identity.
Its line winds around the cylindrical body of the can and continues beyond our field of view as the object turns.
It has no clearly visible beginning or end.
The result is an illusion of uninterrupted movement.
Much like a game that does not end with a simple turn of the object.
Design You Can Feel
I am interested in more than what someone sees on the packaging.
I am interested in touch, too.
I imagine the SCORE 0:0 surface in a deep matte black with a subtle soft-touch finish.
Against it, the hockey-stick graphic would rise above the surface.
Subtle embossing, spot 3D varnish or another suitable technology could create a tactile contrast between the smooth field and the texture of sporting equipment.
A detail also features a texture reminiscent of hockey-stick tape.
Your fingers can discover something your eyes may miss at first glance.
The package is no longer just a carrier of information. It becomes a small haptic object.
The chosen surface treatment would, of course, need further development and testing on a real package.
FULL GAME. ZERO ALCOHOL.
SCORE 0:0 is a packaging design concept for non-alcoholic beer.
I did not want to create another product trying to look like an energy drink.
I wanted to give it an identity of its own.
Sporty, but not aggressive.
Distinctive, but visually clean.
An identity that can catch the eye without a complex illustration or a flood of advertising messages.
FULL GAME. ZERO ALCOHOL.
A simple line connecting the sporting world with the character of the drink.
It also leaves room for a little perspective.
Because design can have a sense of humour, too.
The first proposed flavour is LIME, pairing deep black with vivid neon green.
Here, colour is more than decoration. It becomes a recognisable marker of the flavour and the visual identity as a whole.
The core graphic system is designed to work in other colour combinations as well.
More Than One Can
As I worked on the design, I began to think about how SCORE 0:0 might work as a broader packaging system.
This led to the idea of a portable, reusable carrier for six cans.
Its further development remains in the working sketchbook for now.
In the same way, the original black version is gradually expanding into other colour interpretations that retain the concept’s visual identity.
Between Imagination and Reality
SCORE 0:0 is an original design study for now.
The materials, tactile finishes and production technologies would all need further verification and prototyping.
But that is exactly why Grain FutureLab exists.
To explore ideas without having to think immediately about a production programme.
Sometimes a design grows out of long observation.
Sometimes it begins with a material experiment.
And sometimes one unexpected emotion is enough to send our thoughts in a direction we could not have imagined just a few minutes earlier.
That is exactly how SCORE 0:0 began.
On the way back from the swimming pool.
With a phone in my hand.
And a Tyrannosaurus that still has no idea what it started.
“And so one Tyrannosaurus accidentally started an entirely new game.”
A Note on the Concept
This design was created in our creative laboratory, Grain FutureLab, as an independent experiment in packaging design.
We would love to hear your perspective.
Can you imagine SCORE 0:0 on the shelf of your favourite shop, or as part of the atmosphere at a hockey game?
And how does the combination of a sporting identity and tactile packaging design feel to you?
We welcome your opinions, feedback and unexpected ideas.
Write to us using the Grain of Design contact form at grainofdesign.cz.
Thank you for searching with us for beauty even where most people walk past.
Open Design Partnership
Interested in bringing this concept to life?
SCORE 0:0™ is an original packaging design concept created as part of Grain FutureLab.
If you are a manufacturer or beverage brand looking for original packaging design, this proposal can be developed further, adapted to a specific product and prepared for production.
The concept is open to further development, production collaboration and potential licensing.
For enquiries, contact us using the form at grainofdesign.cz or by email:
🟡 Grain of Design®