Labels carry a vineyard's unique message

Label design is one step in introducing a new variety of wine to the market. Vineyards have their clearest chance to make an impression on consumers and express their brand identities. Some wines are designed to appeal to a sense of refined elegance. Others aim for youthful fun. Still others are contemporary and understated.

Creating labels that express inherent characteristics of wine varieties is one way to attract first-time customers. Winning those shoppers over that first time may turn them into repeat buyers. The following are two examples of vineyards embracing bold design to attract customers’ eyes.

Clear, contemporary messaging
Sometimes, the best way for a wine brand to get through to a potential audience is to discard pretense and be refreshing and unpretentious. The Chicago Tribune recently profiled entrepreneur Chrishon Lampley’s successful Love Cork Screw brand. These wines use text-based label designs in bold primary colors to make wine selection less intimidating and more accessible. White text on a black backdrop proclaiming the names of each variety sits above a stripe of color.

Lampley’s thought out her graphic choices clearly, with the bottles designed to be simple and eye-catching without suggesting that the wine is cheap or low-quality. She told the Tribune that the visual motifs are meant to evoke Chicago, which meant discarding common tropes, saying “There aren’t a lot of chateaus in Chicago.”

A pop culture tie-in
Wine designs can travel far from traditional imagery – even more so than the aforementioned contemporary text art. Mobile Marketer pointed to a particularly bold campaign from Last Wine Company, which not only uses imagery from the popular comic book and TV show The Walking Dead on labels, but it also includes an augmented reality app. Back-and-white characters adorn the bottles and seem to come to life under the app’s gaze.

While pop cultural references may have seemed like the province of the renegade craft brewing industry just a few years ago, wine has been loosening its collar recently and incorporating more fun and off-kilter designs. These interesting and quirky designs can attract consumers who may not be interested in more buttoned-up and traditional looks. The addition of tech tools such as AR is yet another way to build curiosity and appeal.

Focus on label production quality
Whether a vineyard is interested in creating a contemporary look or carrying on a long history, bad printing quality can undercut its message. Vineyards that print labels in house should make sure they have printers that can handle the job. Browse such assets on Optimedia Labs’ U.S. page or Canadian site.