Great wine label design is tricky. It requires flair, imagination, and excellent typographic skills. Above all, a wine label should look like a wine label. To better appreciate modern wine label design it is good to know a little about its origins.
The first wine labels were purely functional. They simply defined the contents of the bottle with little or no embellishment. As the wine industry evolved so did wine labels. They began to more clearly identify the origin of the wine and its producer.
Imagery was introduced, initially – and still to a great degree in Europe – to visually illustrate the chateau from which the wine hailed.
Later, as the wine industry grew more competitive, labels took on a different task. Stores now stocked hundreds of varieties from all over the world and wine
producers needed to package their products distinctively to avoid being lost in the crowd. In the consumerís mind, the wine label came to represent the personality of the wine itself, embodying in that tiny area of paper everything there was to know about the wine.
So, in the classic tradition, form followed function. Today, wine labels continue to provide all the necessary hard facts about the wine within, itís name, the producerís name, its composition, volume, alcohol content, ingredients and other details. But in addition to this, wine
labels come in all colors and shapes, and contain all manner of imagery
When creating a wine label try and abide by the following rules.
This is a fundamental rule of design and is no less important when designing wine labels than it is when designing a bridge, clothing, or even a rocket ship.
Whatever your reason for creating personalized wine labels, always keep in mind that they are wine labels and must function as such. They should provide the wine consumer with some basic information about the wine including (where possible) the producerís name, wine type and its vintage year if applicable. In addition, the alcohol content should be clearly visible, as should the bottle volume. If you plan on selling the wine, then various legal requirements will need to be met. You can establish what these might be by contacting the relevant government agency in your state or country.
If you are creating a personalized wine label then presumably you have a good reason for doing so. Whatever the reason, condense it into a message that you can deliver effectively using your wine label. The key word here is “condense”. A wine label is a poor medium for presenting an essay to your prospective readers. To add elegance and sophistication to your wine collection, you may also consider buying high quality wine cooler. To check some of the best models, you can visit this page: https://www.briccowinebar.com/dual-zone-wine-cooler/
Personalized wine labels by definition include some vitally important message that will generally be conveyed using type. Good type management is one of the hardest, and least appreciated aspects of great design to master. In general you should restrict yourself to no more than two or three different typefaces on a single label design and stick to classic, easy to read fonts. The exceptions in wine label design are of course the script fonts, which have traditionally been very popular with wine label designers.
There are few special rules for working with color in wine label design. Try to avoid colors that clash horribly with each other. Create a palette of a few complimentary colors Ė including complimentary opposites – for each design and work with these. Keep in mind the type of wine the label is for and the bottleís color as this may have an impact on your color selections.
Selecting the right image Ė if your label will feature an image – for your personalized wine label is essential to a successful design. Do not be tempted to use a poor photograph because itís the only one you have of the subject, or an image you like, even though itís not appropriate for the use. Be harsh in your assessment of potential images, as it will pay off later. Always respect the artistís rights and make sure you have the legal authority to use the image for the purpose of creating your personalized wine label.
