Two dear friends of mine, Laura and Daniel, asked me to come up with a label for a red wine that they would give as a take-away present to all their guests on their wedding party. The wine was already packaged in 250ml promotional gift-bottles and I had to come up with a design to rise to the occasion.
The two are a couple that share a fondness for simplicity and elegance, yet their youthful and lively spirit also needed to be present in the design.
Since it was to be a wine to celebrate their wedding, I wanted to have their faces on the label so I asked Laura to provide me with a couple of pictures with them.
Since it was to be a wine to celebrate their wedding, I wanted to have their faces on the label so I asked Laura to provide me with a couple of pictures with them.
I received two holiday pictures,none of which had what it took for the iconic picture of the two. I started by creating a single picture from those two, so I would have their faces facing the camera nicely. I wanted the visual contact to be a clear statement of the label.
Next I experimented with several techniques, in order to obtain a stencil-type image of the two, something with a retro touch to it. Since it was a label for red wine, I enjoyed playing with deep shades of red and dark red for this picture of the two.
I chose the name of the wine, thinking about the two. Daniel is very passionate about red wine and Laura gave me the premise of a noble wordplay. Thus "Roşul laureat" or "Laureate Red" was born.
Several designs were tried, until I came to a simple solution, with a few ornaments surrounding the two and a sparkly font for the new name of the wine.
I chose the name of the wine, thinking about the two. Daniel is very passionate about red wine and Laura gave me the premise of a noble wordplay. Thus "Roşul laureat" or "Laureate Red" was born.
Several designs were tried, until I came to a simple solution, with a few ornaments surrounding the two and a sparkly font for the new name of the wine.
The label also had to contain some text information, celebrating their union.
I took up this task by creating a story around a story, involving a little visual identity previously created.
A few years back, I developed a logo for Laura, which was engraved on the back side of a watch given on her birthday anniversary. Her initials are LC and this is the logo I (proudly) developed.
Years later, it all came back to me. I had to make use of that design and somehow include Daniels initials (DG) into it. This is the final design I developed.
DG is the continuation of the initials LC. Without LC, DG would be incomplete, and at the same time DG surrounds LC, thus symbolising the proctecting role Daniel takes on in Laura's life from now on.
I choose a scenario of a "press release" . Thus, the text stated:
I choose a scenario of a "press release" . Thus, the text stated:
"The LC and DG wineries unite the forces of a tight collaboration started in 2008 (the year the two became a couple), becoming today, September 10th, the "LCDG" winery." This statement was inserted in the lower left side of the label composition, as to be the first information read after the title.
The text in the right column would urge all receivers of the gift-bottle to re-unite in 2061, 50 years later (celebrating the golden wedding anniversary):
"Laureate Red, a legendary wine, available in a limited series is given to the people dear to us. Aging will give the wine its noble spirit, thus we await you in 2061, for the tasting."
Here is another look at the final design and a few examples of the bottles with labels.
Now, one year later, the happy couple have a beautiful baby-girl.
The "LCDG winery" did good so far. Real good.
Many thanks to the people without whom I couldn't have made this project.
Many thanks to the people without whom I couldn't have made this project.
Ana - thank you for helping with the great quality printing of the labels. :)
Catalina - thank you for the photos and all support, advise and critique during the development of the label. :)
Alina, Dudu and again Catalina - thanks for helping with the labels and getting them glued to the bottle. Many thanks for literally "sticking around"! :)
