It may be the largest art commission undertaken for the public. It is certainly the largest art commission for the pub.

From next month the work of four emerging artists will be displayed on 27 million bottles of Beck's beer. Previously the German brewery has demonstrated its support for contemporary British art by persuading leading artists to produce labels for limited edition bottles. Gilbert & George, Rachel Whiteread, Damien Hirst, the Chapman brothers, Richard Long, Tracey Emin and Yinka Shonibare are among those who have adorned Beck's beer. Produced in batches of a few thousand and given away free to trend setters, these bottles have become collectors' items and can sell for hundreds of pounds each.

This year Beck's is moving its artist-label beers into mass production for the first time in partnership with the Royal College of Arts (RCA) in Kensington, West London. A panel of RCA judges asked their graduates and present students to submit work on the theme of individuality for the competition.

Riita Ikonen, 27, Tom Price, 26, Charlotte Bracegirdle, 34 and Simon Cunningham will share the £24,000 prize money, but the real reward is the unprecedented platform for their work. Ikonen, a Finn who graduated from the RCA last month, said that the Beck's Canvas project was “a great opportunity for many people to see my work and be entertained by it”.

Her winning image is a close-up of a friend's eye with a tiny model figure perched on the eyelash. “It's called Let's Stick Together and it's about space. We did it with no glue, a lot of trial and error and a very steady-eyed person. She doesn't know that she's going to be on 6.5 million bottles of beer. I have been trying to get through to her.”

Beck's has been involved with the British avant-garde for more than two decades. Gilbert & George designed the first limited-edition artist labels for it in 1985, a sort of miniature equivalent of the famous Château Lafite Rothschild wine bottle labels, which number Picasso, Miró and Braque among their creators.

Shonibare, whose large ship in a bottle will be gracing the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square soon, was the last artist to design a Beck's label, in 2006. He sees the relationship between artist and brewer as one of “mutual exploitation” — trading his vision for their visibility. “I don't think that these days we have that fear of supporting high art beyond popular art. I think that's kind of old school.”

Whether it would catapult the four chosen artists to the sort of fame, wealth and collectability that some of their predecessors had enjoyed depended on them, Shonibare said. “On its own I can't imagine it's going to do anything to anybody's career. But who will build on this quickly to stay well known? For a young artist this could be a ladder to the next project.”

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of the Decade
• 70 facts you didn't know about Marvel
• The 50 Biggest Movies Of 2010