After having toured the main international wine fairs, one of the directors of the specialized studio ‘YG Design’, shares below his perception about wine image in countries of the Old and New World with Mariano Gioia.
In the world of wine label design, there is a general trend toward an image that is closer to the consumer, especially to the new ones, those without the knowledge or prejudice regarding the aura that wine has had in some cases. This is exactly what happens in markets like the United States, where wine is gaining space to beer. On the other hand, in China consumers are just learning how to drink this beverage.
With the purpose of showing the new design trends, we have considered analysis areas, divided by the most representative markets.
Some general considerations
Some wine-producing countries still have their “country brand” in the presentations of their wines. They are mainly France and Italy. Their tradition, legacy and elegance are already exhibited on the front of their bottles. The great French wines’ classic typographic compositions, generally accompanied by the image of the château in question, differ from the Italian style, which is traditional but contains a stronger chromatic presence.
Nonetheless, we have observed a general trend toward more contemporary and less classic labels.
The “French revolution”
In view of showing cases of interest, we give some exceptional examples, where, judging by their labels, it is difficult to identify that they are bottles from Bordeaux. “A la gloire du chat” and “La Panthère Rose” are two of them.
The well-known case of the South of France
As it was widely known, the southern region of France, the cradle of wine, has detached itself completely from the image of its northern neighbours. In this region there is a great deal of bolder labels, images free of castles and heraldry, with a stronger presence of color and new designs.
In the case of Longue-Dog, there is a pun on the name of its origin (Languedoc), getting a new meaning by changing some letters, thus reaching a funnier concept that helps people to remember the brand.
Italy
Although Italy has less ground-breaking cases than France, there is a greater number of “less traditional” labels. We noticed a trend to use less typography on labels and give more importance to images, which are colorful, striking and take up a large part of the label.
The two Spains
Spain seems to be divided in two. The differentiation is not made by areas or regions as in France, but a contrast between traditional labels and most contemporary depictions. In some cases, under an “anything goes” concept, we find unstructured typographic compositions, very powerful images and original layouts.
An example is Matsu (Vintae), a line that communicates its young, aged and reserve wines by means of a sole portrayal for each of them. The characters depict allegorically the age of the wine they contain.
Portugal: the Old World’s revelation
Nowadays, Portugal seems to be part of the “Old World” in terms of wine image and the phenomenon’s homogeneity is surprising. Most of its labels do not depict tradition or history, but other concepts appearing behind their depictions, making their brands more forceful.
Ends