We’ve tapped the vibrant world of beer label design, and now the time is ripe to uncork its close but unique cousin: the wine label. While connoisseurs will require little more than the region, vineyard and vintage to know what is worth drinking, the average consumer often relies on his or her eyes. An outstanding design — one that not only causes the bottle to leap off the shelf but also promises to be an attractive addition to the table — can be the deciding factor.
While the traditional wine label — stately, text-based, off-white — will always have appeal, we are more interested in the designs that go bold. For example, ones that run with:
CONCEPT
Aiming for something clean, fun and interactive to convey the concept of leisure and relaxation, designer Dorian went for a word search puzzle in his design for El Buscador (“The Searcher”), by Spanish producer Finca de la Rica (above). Boarding Pass Shiraz (below) uses the template of a boarding pass to contain the wine’s typical information (year, type, etc.). Complete with a luggage tag on the neck and “emergency” instructions on back, the bottle suggests the allure of imported wine in a smart, amusing and unconventional manner.
SHAPE
No one ever said a wine label must confine itself to being a regular, rectangular band. With all that bottle space to conquer, it is no wonder designers have begun to expand in the name of manifest destiny. Mash‘s design for Boxhead Shiraz fills the space with an uneven pile of graphic boxes. The boldly modern, geometric design by Adrian Gilling for the below (right) Malbec stretches the whole length of the bottle’s main body.
COLOR
Wine may only come in about three colors, but there’s no reason this must be true of labels. Meeta Panesar‘s tribute to the Op Art movement, for Albers Winery (above), is alive with vibrant, geometric patterns. The rainbow label for Zull‘s Lust & Laune rosé (below) signals that this fragrant wine belongs on the table, not in the cellar.
And of course we must not overlook the dozens of attractive, unique wine label designs by 99designers! Here are some of our recent favorites:
Design by lugosi
Designs by agencymatic and antgame
Design by electr0nika
Design by electr0nika
Design by timall68
Thanks Alex for sharing this awesome collection of creative wine bottle label designs. Some really unique and amazing styles in there, a great varied sample too from the more reserved, clean and modern designs to fresh colourful interesting styles. The El buscador and penguin designs are minimalistic but at the same time very effective while the clearly & sweeney one makes clever use of shapes within shapes. Again cheers for this great post, certainly provides much design inspiration, good work!
These are terrific! Thanks for the share
Meeta Panesar‘s Zull Lust & Laune design is very close to Bulgarian wine label design Tcherga. Design of Tcherga label was created back in 2004, you can see picture of design here:
http://www.piccadilly.bg/images/exotic/file_554_bg.jpg
It is an honor for me to be here!
Thank you!
Great designs – love the 3 headed dragon from lugosi!
That ‘Spanking Bottom’ design is freaking classic. Rarely do I buy a wine based on the label anymore, but I’d make an exception if I saw that wine at the shop.
Awesome collection Alex, It is an honor for me to be here too!
Thank you Jason, I’m happy you like it :)
Bests to all.
Probably based on my love of word-based puzzles, El Buscador has my attention! :) As to others that impress me, I confess to prejudice: My wife is a wine label designer with north of two dozen labels out and another dozen coming over the next nine months: http://saranelsondesign.com/wine
Oh wow – she has some really great stuff! Thanks for the share :)